
^^^•.w 

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Class F" 7 ^ 
Book ,Q9 Q'rri^ 



PRESENTED BV 






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Ay /^. '^^^ 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



George E. Littlefield has for sale at his Anti- 
quarian Bookstore, No. 67 Cornhill, Boston, the 
foHoiuiiig publications : — 

AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS, Bicentennial and Centennial, 
delivered July 4, 1876, at Groton, Massachusetts. Octavo, 
paper covers, 86 pages. Price ^i. 00. Groton: 1876. 

AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS delivered at Groton, Mas- 
sachusetts, February 20, 1880, at the dedication of three 
monuments erected by the town. Octavo, paper cover, 
56 pages. Price 50 cents. Groton : 1880. 

GROTON IN THE WITCHCRAFT TIlftES. Octavo, 
paper cover, 29 pages. Price 50 cents. Groton : 1883. 

TWO CHAPTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF 
GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Octavo, paper cover, 
19 pages. Price 35 cents. Boston: 1882. 

EPITAPHS FROM THE OLD BURYING-GROUND 
IN GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS. With Notes and 
an Appendix. Illustrations. Octavo, cloth, pages xix, 271. 
Price $3.00. Boston : 187S. 

GROTON DURING THE INDIAN WARS. Octavo, 
cloth, 214 pages. Price $2.50. Groton: 1883. 

THE EARLY RECORDS OF GROTON, MASSACHU- 
SETTS, 1662-1707. With Notes. Heliotypes. Octavo, 
cloth, 201 pages. Price $2.00. Groton : 1880. 

GROTON HISTORICAL SERIES. Nos. I. -VIII. A 
collection of Tracts relating to the history of the town. 
Octavo, paper covers. Price 25 cents each. Groton : 

1884-85. 



COUNT WILLIAM DE DEUX-PONTS'S CAMPAIGNS 
IN AMERICA, 1780-81. Translated from the French 
Manuscript, with an Introduction and Notes. Octavo, 
paper cover, pages xvi, 176. Price $2.00. Boston: 1868. 

HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
A Centennial Address delivered before the Massachusetts 
Medical Society, at Cambridge, June 7, 1881. Octavo, 
cloth, 131 pages. Price $1.00. Boston: 1S81. 



The Boundary Lines 



UNITB* STATES, 
^r«ENT OF V}^ 



OLD GROTON. 



BY 



SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D. 



Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. 

Prov. xxii. 28. 



GROTON, MASS 

1885. 



r^^&nv^ 



John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



27j9'e4 



Co ti)e jlflemarp 



OF 

JONATHAN DANFORTH, 

WHO SURVEYED THE ORIGINAL GROTON PLANTATION; 

Snt) to t!)e IKemorg of t\)z (JTfjninmen, 

WHO, THOUGH UNKNOWN TO US EVEN BY NAME, ACCOMPANIED HIM THROUGH 
THE WILDERNESS DURING HIS WEARISOME LABORS, 

T///S BOOK IS INSCRIBED 

By the Author. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

I. Groton Plantation 9 

II. Nashobah and Littleton 19 

III. Groton Gore and the Provincial Line ..... 32 

IV. \Vestford and Harvard 45 

V. Dunstable, Hollis, and Nottingham 53 

VI. Pepperell 72 

VII. Shirley, Tyngsborough, and Ayer 82 

INDEX 99 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Groton and Neighborhood, 1885 . Ft-ontispiece 

y 

Groton Plantation 13 

Groton Gore 33 v- 








THE BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD 
GROTON. 



I. 



GROTON PLANTATION. 

Well-defined boundaries are of the highest importance to 
communities as well as to individuals. In the one case they 
mark the limits of political power, and in the other of landed 
possession. Oftentimes such boundaries prevent strifes and 
quarrels, and thus indirectly and silently promote the Chris- 
tian virtues. During the various stages of civilization, from 
the earliest days of recorded history, they have been con- 
sidered absolutely essential to the existence of society ; and 
in the Mosaic code of laws a curse was uttered against the 
man who should remove his neighbor's landmark. The ancient 
Romans personified this principle of fixed boundaries, and dei- 
fied him under the name of Terminus. A temple was built in 
his honor, where he was worshipped by the pagans. 

The various transfers of territory connected with the town 
of Groton, in its corporate capacity, have a certain local inter- 
est, and in order to gratify it this little book is printed. 

The original grant of the township was made by the General 
Court on May 25, 1655, and gave to the proprietors a tract of 
land eight miles square ; though during the next year this 



10 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 



was modified so that its shape varied somewhat from the first 
plan. It comprised all of what is now Groton and Ayer, 
nearly all of Pepperell and Shirley, more than one half of 
Dunstable, a large part of Littleton, smaller parts of Harvard 
and Westford, Massachusetts, and a portion of Nashua, New 
Hampshire, besides a little patch of Hollis, in the same 
State, The grant was taken out of the very wilderness, rela- 
tively far from any other town, and standing like a sentinel 
on the frontiers. Lancaster, fourteen miles away, was its 
nearest neighbor in the southwesterly direction on the one 
side; and Andover and Haverhill, twenty and twenty-five 
miles distant, more or less, in the northeasterly direction on 
the other. No settlement on the north stood between it and 
the settlements in Canada. Chelmsford and Billerica were 
each incorporated about the same time, though a few days 
later. For several years previously, however, there had been 
some scattered families living at Billerica, then known as 
Shawshin, 

When the grant was made, it was expressly stipulated that 
Mr. Jonathan Danforth, of Cambridge, with such others as he 
might desire, should lay it out with all convenient speed, in 
order to encourage the prompt settlement of a minister; and 
furthermore that the selectmen of the town should pay a fair 
amount for his services. During the next year a petition, 
signed by Deane Winthrop and seven others, was presented 
to the General Court, asking for certain changes in the condi- 
tions, and among them the privilege to employ another " artist " 
in the place of Mr, Danforth, as he was overrun with business. 
The petition was referred to a committee, who reported favor- 
ably upon it, and the request was duly granted. Formerly a 
surveyor was called an artist, and in old records the word is 
often found with that meaning. 

Ensign Peter Noyes, of Sudbury, was then engaged by the 
grantees, and he began the survey ; but his death, on Septem- 
ber 23, 1657, delayed the speedy accomplishment of the work. 
It is known that there was some trouble in the early settlement 
of the place, growing out of the question of lands, but its exact 



GROTON PLANTATION. II 

character is not recorded ; perhaps it was owing to the delay 
which now occurred. Ensign Noyes was a noted surveyor, 
but not so famous as Jonathan Danforth, whose name is often 
mentioned in the General Court records, in connection with 
the laying out of lands and towns, and many of whose plans 
are still preserved among the Archives in the State House. 
Danforth was the man wanted at first for the undertaking ; 
and after Noyes's death he took charge of it, and his elder 
brother, Thomas, was associated with him. The plat or plan 
of the land, however, does not appear to have been completed 
until April, 1668. The survey was made during the preced- 
ing year. At a meeting of the selectmen of the town, held on 
November 23, 1667, it is recorded that a rate should be levied 
in order to pay " the Artest and the men that attended him 
and his diet for himself and his horse, and for two sheets of 
parchment, for him to make two platts for the towne, and for 
Transportation of his pay all which amounts to about twenty 
pounds and to pay severall other town debts that appear to us 
to be due." 

It was of Danforth that the poet sang : — 

He rode the circuit, chain'd great towns and farms 
To good behavior ; and, by well-marked stations, 
He fixed their bounds for many generations. 
His art ne'er fail'd him, though the loadstone fail'd, 
When oft by mines and streams it was assail'd. 
All this is charming, but there's something higher, 
Gave him the lustre which we most admire. 

This poetical tribute to his character is taken from a poem 
written at the time of his death, and appears in Farmer and 
Moore's " Collections " (ii. 65). The allusion in the last line 
is to his piety. 

A little further on in the records a charge of five shillings 
is made "ffor two sheats of Parchment." These entries seem to 
show that two plans were made, — perhaps one for the town 
and the other for the Colony ; but neither copy is now to be 
found. An allusion is made to one of them in a petition, pre- 
sented to the General Court on February 10, 17 17, by John 



12 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Shepley and John Ames. It is there stated that " the said 
Plat tho something defaced is with the Petitioner ; " and 
furthermore "That in the year 171 3 M'^ Samuel Danforth 
Surveyor & Son of the aforesaid Jonathan Danforth, at the 
desire of the said Town of Groton did run the Lines & make 
an Implatment of the said Township laid out as before & found 
it agreeable to the former. W'' last Plat the Petitioners do 
herewith exhibit, And pray that this Hon''''' Court would allow 
& confirm the same as the Township of Groton." 

Plans were needed by the public authorities, to show offi- 
cially what lands had already been appropriated. Sometimes 
one grant would overlap or conflict with another, and thus 
create confusion. The grant of five hundred acres lying within 
the limits of Groton Plantation, and made to Major Simon 
Willard in the spring of 1657, was given under a misappre- 
hension. The General Court had no official knowledge that 
this tract had previously been taken up, as at that time no 
plan of the original plantation had been returned to that body, 
or even made. Years afterward the mistake was recognized 
by the authorities, and an equivalent of land allowed to the 
proprietors for their loss. At a very early period in the his- 
tory of the Colony, there was an order regulating the laying 
out of grants, so that places fit for townships should not be 
spoiled for that'purpose, but the order was frequently violated. 

All the early surveys of public grants were very liberal, 
and purposely included more territory than was given by the 
General Court. Land was cheap, and did not belong to private 
individuals. Sometimes an excess was taken to make up " for 
rocks and waste land," and this was permitted by the authori- 
ties. Danforth's survey was no exception, and gave the pro- 
prietors ample measurements. Over and above this fact, the 
difficulty of defining lines of boundary with precision is never 
wholly overcome, unless it is done by landmarks successively 
visible from one another. Surveys dependent on the compass 
are always subject to many sources of inaccuracy, such as the 
loss of magnetic virtue in the poles of the needle ; blunting of 
the centre-pin ; unsuspected local attractions ; oversight or 



Boston Fanns 
Buck: Ycadow 




GROTON PLANTATION. 13 

mistake as to the secular variation, and variability from the 
influence of the sun, known as the diurnal variation, to say 
nothing of the elements of uncertainty connected with the 
chain. Error from the diurnal variation may amount, in the 
distance of a mile, to twenty feet or more of lateral deviation. 
Under these circumstances it is neither fair nor just to subject 
the work of the early surveyors to the test of modern methods. 

While the original plan of Groton has been lost or destroyed, 
it is fortunate that many years ago a copy was made, which is 
still preserved. In June, 1826, the Honorable James Prescott 
was in the possession of the original, which Caleb Butler, 
Esq., at that time transcribed into one of the town record- 
books. Even with this clew a special search has been made 
for the missing document, but without success. If it is ever 
found it will be by chance, where it is the least looked for. 
There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the outlines or 
the faithfulness of the copy. The relative distances between 
the streams emptying into the Nashua River, however, are not 
very exact ; and in the illustration placed opposite, for the 
sake of clearness I have added their names, as well as the 
name of Forge Pond, formerly called Stony Brook Pond. 

Accompanying the copy is a description of the survey, 
which, in connection with the drawing, gives a good idea of 
the general shape of the township. Probably in the original 
these two writings were on the same sheet. In the transcript 
Mr. Butler has modernized the language and made the punc- 
tuation conform to present usage. In the illustration I 
have followed strictly the outlines of the plan, as well as the 
course of the rivers, but I have omitted some details, such as 
the distances and directions which are given along the mar- 
gins. These facts appear in the description, and perhaps 
were taken from it by the copyist. I have also omitted the 
acreage of the grant, which is grossly inaccurate. 

Whereas the Plantation of Groton, containing by grant the pro- 
portion of eight miles Square, was begun to be laid out by Ensign 
Noyes, and he dying before he had finished his work, it is now 
finished, whose limits and bounds are as followeth, 



14 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

It began on the east side of Nashua River a little below Nissitis- 
set hills at the short turning of the River bounded by a pine tree 
marked with G. and so running two miles in a direct line to buck- 
meadow -whxch p'' tains to Boston Farms, and so is bounded by Bos- 
ton Farms, Billerica land and Edward Cowell's farm until you come 
to Massapoag Pond, which is full of small islands ; from thence it 
is bounded by the aforesaid Pond until you come to Chelmsford 
line, after that it is bounded by Chelmsford and Nashoboh lines 
until you come to the most southerly corner of this Plantation, and 
from thence it runs West-North-West five miles and a half and 
sixty four poles, which again reacheth to Nashua River, then the 
former west-north-west line is continued one mile on the west side 
of the river, and then it runs one third of a point easterly of north 
& by east nine miles and one quarter, from thence it runneth four 
miles due east, which closeth the work to the river again to the 
first pine below Nissitisset hills, where we began : it is bounded by 
the Farms and plantations as aforesaid and by the wilderness else- 
where ; all which lines are run and very sufficiently bounded by 
marked trees & pillars of stones : the figure or manner of the lying 
of it is more fully demonstrated by this plot taken of the same. 

By Jonathan Danforth, 
April 1668. Surveyor. 

The Nissitissett Hills are conspicuous elevations in the 
northeast quarter of the town of Pepperell, standing on the 
west side of the Nashua River, perhaps half a mile distant 
from it; and just below them the river takes a decided bend 
to the westward. The largest of these hills is situated near 
the village of East Pepperell, and to this day is known in the 
neighborhood as the Nissitissett ; while north of it are two 
other hills, which extend to the present State line, and form 
prominent landmarks when seen from the east side of the river. 

These bearings give very nearly the position of "a pine 
tree marked with G," from which Danforth started in making 
his survey. It was undoubtedly very near to the present 
State line, and probably just north of it. From the pine-tree 
the boundary ran northeasterly two miles in a straight line 
to Buck Meadow, which is a well-known locality, still bearing 
the same name. From this boundary the description gives 



GROTOxN PLANTATION. 1 5 

neither distance nor direction to the next angle, but the plan 
shows it very well. Apparently the course was about a mile 
and a half in the southeasterly direction. It is difficult now 
to understand why the original grant was laid out along its 
northern border in so irregular a manner, but perhaps it was 
owing to the character of the soil or the topography of the 
country. 

A carefully constructed map of the region, based on these 
facts, includes within its limits the present Lovewell's Pond, 
which is an excellent guide in tracing this boundary running 
in a southeasterly direction. The pond lies so near the line 
that I thought it might be possible still to identify it in part 
by some modern mark, such as a fence, road, or stone wall ; 
and I determined to reconnoitre the district. On reaching 
the neighborhood one hot afternoon in August, 1884, I found, 
much to my gratification, a road, little more than a cart-path, 
and substantially straight, running along a natural ridge for 
half a mile, coinciding with this line. The ridge is a marked 
feature of the region, and would naturally have been taken 
by Danforth as a boundary. The road is a very old one, 
and known in the vicinity as the Ridge Road. While near 
one end of it, I met a young man, of whom I inquired the 
name of the meadow, just in front of us, when he at once 
replied : " It hain't got no name, but the folks 'round here call 
it Buck Meadow." This bit of information was confirmed by 
several persons living in the neighborhood. The whole of 
the triangle made by Danforth's two courses, with the pres- 
ent State line as a base, comes now within the territory of 
Nashua, New Hampshire. 

The lands known as " Boston Farms, Billerica land, and 
Edward Cowell's farm," were all granted by the General 
Court after the incorporation of Groton, but before the date 
of the survey, which will account for their appearance in the 
description. 

It was undoubtedly Danforth's intention to make the eastern 
boundary of Groton correspond in part with the western boun- 
dary of Chelmsford, though the territory of the last-named 



l6 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

town never extended to Massapoag Pond. At the time of the 
survey there was a tract of unappropriated land between the 
pond and the northern boundary of Chelmsford, which after- 
ward was included within the township of Dunstable, but now 
is in Tyngsborough, Danforth's line was continued through 
Forge Pond, and then made to follow the boundary of Nash- 
obah, an Indian grant, which subsequently was included in 
Littleton. It passed on, nearly a mile further, in a straight 
course, until the southeast corner of Groton Plantation was 
reached. This corner is now represented by an angle in the 
boundary between Boxborough and Harvard, perhaps two 
hundreds rods south of the Littleton line. Here a prominent 
ridge, belonging to the Oak Hill range, comes to an end ; and 
Danforth, in his survey, was not slow to use as a landmark 
such a conspicuous feature in the topography of the country. 
From this place the line turned and ran " West-North-West 
five miles and a half and sixty-four poles," where it crossed 
the Nashua River, and then continued another mile, on the 
west side of the river, to the southwest corner of the plan- 
tation. This point is known to-day as " Groton Old Corner," 
and the stone post marking the boundary is lettered on the 
top: — 

GROTON & 

STOW LEG 

OLD CORNER 

The post stands in the woods very near the Leominster 
road, about a mile from Shirley Village. From here the line 
ran in a northeasterly direction for nine miles, to a place 
where the northwest corner of the township was reached. 
The stone post marking the spot comes now very near the 
boundary of Addison Wood's farm in Pepperell, and is still 
called " Groton Old Corner." P'rom this point the line ran 
due east for four miles to the pine-tree on the banks of the 
Nashua River, whence Danforth started to make the survey. 
It undoubtedly crossed the river a short distance north of the 
present State line, and passed through the southeast corner 
of the present town of Hollis. 



GROTON PLANTATION. 1/ 

The description of the original grant of Dunstable has 
been twice printed, but with so many inaccuracies and inter- 
polations that I am constrained to print it again for the third 
time. The original copy, in the handwriting of Jonathan 
Danforth, surveyor, is found on the first page of the earliest 
book of Dunstable town records, now in the possession of the 
city of Nashua. The leaf on which it is written is much 
torn and worn near the front edge. Of the first line about 
three quarters of an inch is gone, and near the middle of the 
edge probably an inch and a quarter is also gone. Without 
attempting to supply the missing letters or words, I have 
placed brackets thus [ ] to indicate them, which in some 
lines are very evident. The following copy was made by me 
with much care on June 5, 1885, and it is here given hne for 
line with the original ; — 

THE NEW PLANTATION GRANTE 
APON MERIMACK REUER 

It Lieth on both sids merimack Riuer on the n[ ] 

Riuer it is bounded by Chelmsford on the south by [ ] 

partly by Cuntry land the Line runing from the boun[ 1 

du north Ten mile untill you Come to Souhegon Riuer [ ] 

Called dram Cup hill to a great Pine ny to y^ said Riuer: a[ ] 
of Charlstown Scoole farm bounded by Souhegon Riuer 
North and on the east Sid merrimacke : It begins at a great che[ ] 

corner of 

which was supposed to be near the northern M' Brintons land 

A 

and from thence it Runs sou south east six miles to a Pine [ ] 
with : F : standinge within sight of Beauer Broke 
It Runs two degres west from the ifee south four mile and ouer [ ] 
which Reached to the fc^-thg ter-ths south side of henery [ ] 

ffarme at Jeremies Hill then from y^ South-East angell of [ ] 

it runs two degres and a quarter westward of the south [ ] 

of the long Pond which lieth at y*" head of Edward Co[ ] 

And thus it is Bounded by the said Pond and the head of th[ ] 
Takeinge in Captaine Scarlets farme to that bou[ ] 

All which is sofficiantly Bounded and described [ ] 

danforth Suruayer : 3'": 1674: 

3 



l8 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

The map of Old Dunstable, between pages 12 and 13 in 
Fox's History of that town, is very incorrect, so far as it re- 
lates to the boundaries of Groton. The Squannacook River 
is put down as the Nissitissett, and this mistake may have 
tended to confuse the author's ideas. The southern boun- 
dary of Dunstable was by no means a straight line, but was 
made to conform in part to the northern boundary of Groton, 
which was somewhat angular. Groton was incorporated on 
May 25, 1655, and Dunstable on October 15, 1673, and no 
part of it came within the limits of thrs town. The eastern 
boundary of Groton originally ran northerly through Massa- 
poag Pond, and continued into the present limits of Nashua, 
New Hampshire. 




II. 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 



On the southeast of Groton, and adjoining it, was a small 
township granted, in the spring of 1654, by the General Court 
to the Nashobah Indians, who had been converted to Chris- 
tianity under the instruction of the Apostle Eliot and others. 
They were few in numbers, comprising perhaps ten families, 
or about fifty persons. During Philip's War this settlement 
was entirely deserted by the Indians, thus affording a good 
opportunity, which was not lost, for the English to encroach 
on the reservation. These intruders lived in the neighboring 
towns, but mostly in Groton. Some of them took possession 
with no show of right, while others went through the formality 
of buying the land from the Indians ; though such sales did 
not, as was supposed at the time, bring the territory under 
the jurisdiction of the towns where the purchasers severally 
lived. It is evident from the records that these encroachments 
gave rise to controversy. The following entry, under date 
of June 20, 1682, is found in the Middlesex Court Records 
(iv. 38) at East Cambridge, and shows that a committee was 
appointed at that time to re-establish the boundary lines of 
Nashobah : — 

Cap' Thomas Hinchman, L: Joseph Wheeler, & L! ]n°. flynt 
surveyo'', or any two of them are nominated & impowred a Com- 
ittee to rune the ancient bounds of Nashoboh Plantaccon, & remark 
the lines, as it was returned to the gefiall Court by said m' flynt at 



20 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

the charge of the Indians, givehig notice to the select men of Grot- 
ton of time & place of meeting, w""^ is referred to m' flint, to ap- 
poynt, & to make return to next Coun Court at Cam16r in order to 
a finall settlem' 

Again, under date of October 3, 1682 (" 3. 8. 1682."), it is 
entered that — 

The return of the comittee referring to the bounds of Nashobey 
next to Grotton, was p'sented to this Court and is on file. 
Approued 

The " return " is as follows: — 

We Whose names are under written being appointed by y"" Hono''^ 
County Court June : 20"' 1682. To run the Ancient bounds of 
Nashobey, haue accordingly run the said bounds, and find that the 
town of Groton by theire Second laying out of theire bounds have 
taken into theire bounds as we Judge neer halfe Indian Plantation 
Severall of the Select men and other inhabitants of Groton being 
then with us Did See theire Erro' therein, & Do decline that laying 
out So far as they haue Invaded the right of y^ Indians. 

Also we find y' the Norwest Corner of Nashobey is run into y"^ 
first bounds of Groton to y^ Quantity of 350 acres according as 
Groton men did then Show us theire Said line, which they Say was 
made before Nashobey was laid out, and which bounds they Do 
Challenge as theire Right. The Indians also haue Declared them 
Selves willing to forego that Prouided they may haue it made up 
upon theire West Line. And we Judge it may be there added to 
theire Conveniance. 

Joseph Wheeler 

John Flint 
2 : Octob^ 1682. 

Exhibited in Court 3 : 8 : 82 : 

& approved T D : R. 

A true Coppy of y'' originall on file w"' y^ Records of County 

Court for Middx. 

Ex" p'Sam" : Phipps Cle 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxii. 331.] 

Among the Groton men who had bought land of the 
Nashobah Indians were Peleg Lawrence and Robert Robbins. 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 21 

Their names appear, with a diagram of the land, on a plan 
of Nashobah made in the year 1686, and found among the 
Massachusetts Archives, in the first volume (page 125) of 
"Ancient Plans Grants &c." Lawrence and Robbins un- 
doubtedly supposed that the purchase of this land brought it 
within the jurisdiction of Groton. Lawrence died in the 
year 1692 ; and some years later the town made an effort 
to obtain from his heirs their title to this tract, as well as 
from Robbins his title. It is recorded that the town, at a 
meeting held on June 8, 1702, — 

did uote that they would giue Peleg larraness Eairs three acers of 
madow whare thay ust to Improue and tenn acers of upland neare 
that madow upon the Conditions following that the aboue sd Peleg 
larrances heirs do deliuer up that Indian titelle which thay now 
haue to the town 

At the same meeting the town voted that — 

thay would giue to robart robins Sener three acers of madow where 
he uste to Improue : and ten acers of upland near his madow upon 
the Conditions forlowing that he aboue sd Robart Robbins doth 
deliuer: up that Indian titels which he now hath : to the town. 

It appears from the records that no other business was 
done at this meeting, except the consideration of matters 
growing out of the Nashobah land. It was voted to have an 
artist lay out the meadow at " Nashobah line," as it was 
called, as well as the land which the town had granted to 
Walter and Daniel Powers, probably in the same neighbor- 
hood ; and also that Captain Jonas Prescott be authorized to 
engage an artist at an expense not exceeding six shillings a 
day. 

Settlers from the adjacent towns were now making grad- 
ual encroachments on the abandoned territory, and among 
them Groton was well represented. All the documents of 
this period relating to the subject show an increased interest 
in these lands, which were too valuable to remain idle for a 
long time. The following petition, undoubtedly, makes a 
correct representation of the case : — 



22 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esqr Captain Gen'l & Gov- 
ernour in Chief in & over her Majesties Province of the Mas- 
sachusets Bay &c : togeither with the honourable Council, & 
Representatives in Great and Gen'.' Court Assembled at Cambridge 
October 14'!' 1702. 

The Petition of the Inhabitants of Stow humbly sheweth. 

That Whereas the honourable Court did pleas formerly to grant 
vnto vs the Inhabitants of Stow a certain Tract of Land to make a 
Village or Township of, environed w"' Concord, Sudbury, Marlbury? 
Lancaster, Groton, & Nashoby : And Whereas the said Nashoby 
being a Tract of Land of four miles square, the which for a long 
time hath been and still is desert'd and left by the Indians none 
being now resident there, and those of them who lay claim to it 
being desireous to sell said Land ; and some English challenging it 
to be theirs by virtue of Purchase ; and besides the Town of Groton 
in particular, hath of late extended their Town lyne into it, takeing 
away a considerable part of it ; and Especially of Meadow (as wee 
are Well informed) Wherefore wee above all o^ Neighbour Towns, 
stand in the greatest need of Enlargement ; having but a pent up 
smale Tract of Land and very little Meadow. 

Whence we humbly Pray the great & Gen'.' Court, that if said 
Nashoby may be sold by the Indians wee may have allowance to 
buy, or if it be allready, or may be sold to any other Person or Per- 
sons, that in the whole of it, it be layed as an Addition to vs the 
smale Town of Stow, it lying for no other Town but vs for nighness 
& adjacency, togeither with the great need wee stand of it, & the no 
want of either or any of the above named Towns. Shall it Pleas 
the great & Gen'.' Court to grant this ol" Petition, wee shall be much 
more able to defray Publick Charges, both Civil, & Ecclesiasticall, 
to settle o": Minister amongst vs in order to o!' Injoyment of the Gos- 
pel in the fullness of it. Whence hopeing & believing that the Pe- 
tition of the Poor, & needy will be granted. Which shall forever 
oblidge yof Petition''' to Pray &c : 

Tho : Steevens. Cler : 
Stow. October 12* 1702. In the Towns behalfe 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiii. 330.] 

This petition was granted on October 21, 1702, on tJie part 
of the House of Representatives, but negatived in the Council, 
on October 24. 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 23 

During this period the territory of Nashobah was the subject 
of considerable dispute among the neighboring towns, and 
slowly disappearing by their encroachments. Under these 
circumstances an effort was made to incorporate a township 
from this tract and to establish its boundaries. The following 
petition makes a fair statement of the case, though the signa- 
tures to it are not autographs : — 

To His Excels Joseph Dudley Esq : Cap! General! & Govf in 
Chief in and over Her Maj''" Province of Mass'f Bay in New-Eng- 
land, Together with y*^ Hon^'''' the Council, & Representatives in 
Gen'.' Court Assembled on the 30"* of May, In the Tenth Year of 
Her Maj"f Reign Annoq Domi 17 11, — The Humble Petition of 
us the Subscribers Inhabitants of Concord, Chelmsford, Lancaster 
& Stow &c within the County of Midd" in the Province Afores"? 

Most Humbly Sheweth 

That there is a Considerable Tract of Land Lying vacant and 
Unimproved Between the Towns of Chelmsford, Lancaster & Stow 
& Groton, as s'' Groton was Survey'd & Lay'd out by Mr. Noyce, & 
the Plantation Call'd Concord Village, which is Commonly known 
by the Name of Nashoba, in the County of Midd^ Afores'.' & Sun- 
dry Persons having Made Entrys thereupon without Orderly Appli- 
cation to the Government, and as we are Inform'd, & have reason 
to believe, diverse others are designing so to do. 

We Yo' Hum'':" Petitioners being desirous to Prevent the Incon- 
veniences that may arise from all Irregular Intrusions into any 
vacant Lands, and also In a Regular manner to Settle a Township 
on the Land afores'? by which the frontier on that Side will be more 
Clos'd & Strengthened & Lands that are at Present in nowise bene- 
ficiall or Profitable to the Publick might be rendred Servicable for 
the Contributing to the Publlick Charge, Most Humbly Address 
Ourselves to your Excy : And this Honourable Court. 

Praying that your Petitioners may have a Grant of Such Lands 
Scituate as Afores'? for the Ends & Purposes aforesi And that a 
Committee may be appointed by this Hon'''5 Court to View, Survey 
and Set out to Yof Petitioners the si Lands, that so Yof si Peti- 
tioners may be enabled to Settle thereupon with Such others as 
shall joyn them In an orderly and regular manner : Also Praying 
that Such Powers and Priviledges may be given and conferred upon 



24 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

the same as are granted to other Towns, And Yo' Petitioners shall 
be Most ready to attend Such Directions, with respect to Such Part 
of the s"! Tract as has been formerly reserv'd for the Indians, but 
for a Long time has been wholly Left, & is now altogether unim- 
prov'd by them, And all other things which this Hon'':''' Court in 
their Wisdom & justice Shall See meet to appoint for the Regulation 
of such Plantation or Town. 

And Yo: Hum'^}^ Petitioners as in Duty Bound Shall Ever Pray &c. 

Gershom Procter Josiah Whitcomb 

Sam'! Procter John Buttrick 

John Procter Will"' Powers 

Joseph Fletcher Jonathan Hubburd 

John Miles W" Keen 

John Parlin John Heald 

Robert Robins John Bateman 

John Darby John^ Hey wood 

John Barker Thomas Wheeler 

Sam! Stratton Sam'! Hartwell, junf 

Hezekiah Fletcher Sam'.' Jones 

John Miriam 

[Endorsed] In the House of Representatives 

June 6 : 1 71 1. Read & Coinitted. 
7 . . . Read, & 
Ordered that Jon!" Tyng Esqf Thom? Howe Esqf & Mr John 
Sternes be a Coniittee to view the Lands mentioned in the Petition, 
& Represent the Lines, or Bounds of the severall adjacent Towns 
bounding on the s^ Lands and to have Speciall Regard to the Land 
granted to the Indians, & to make report of the quantity, & circum- 
stances thereof. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

John Burril Speaker 
In Council 

June 7. 171X, Read and Concurr'd. 

ISA : Addington, Secry. 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiii. 602, 603.] 

The committee to whom was referred this subject made a 
report during the next autumn ; but no action in regard to it 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 25 

appears to have been taken by the General Court until two 
years later. 

The report of the Comitty of the Hon'''"-" Court vpon the petition 
of Concord Chelmsford Lancaster & Stow for a grant of part of 
Nashobe lands 

Persuant to the directions giuen by this Hon''.''' Court bareng Date 
the 30"" of May 1711 The Comity Reports as foloweth that is -to 
say &ce 

That on the second day of October 17 11 the s'' comitty went vpon 
the premises with an Artis and veved [viewed] and servaied the 
Land mentined in the Peticion and find that the most southerly 
line of the plantation of Nashobe is bounded partly on Concord & 
partly on Stow and this line contains by Estimation vpon the servey 
a bought three miles & 50 polle The Westerly line Runs partly on 
Stow & partly on land claimed by Groton and containes four miles 
and 20 poll extending to a place called Brown hill, The North line 
Runs a long curtain lands claimed by Groton and contains three 
miles, the Easterle line Runs partly on Chelmsford, and partly on 
a farm cald Powersis farm in Concord ; this line contains a bought 
fouer miles and seventy hue poll 

The lands a boue mentined wer sheved to vs for Nashobe Plan- 
tation and ther were ancient marks in the severall lines fairly 
marked, And s"" coihite find vpon the servey that Groton hath Run 
into Nashobe (as it was sheved to vs) so as to take out nere one 
half s** plantation and the bigest part of the medows, it appeers to 
vs to Agree well with the report of M' John Flint & M'' Joseph 
Wheler who were a Commetty imployed by the County Court in 
midlesexs to Run the bounds of said plantation (June y*" 20"" 82) 
The plat will demonstrate how the plantation lyeth & how Groton 
coms in vpon it: as allso the quaintete which is a bought 7840 
acres 

And said Cofnite are of the opinnion that ther may [be] a town- 
ship in that place it lying so remote from most of the neighboreng 
Towns, provided this Court shall se reson to continew the bounds 
as we do judg thay have been made at the first laieng out And that 
ther be sum addition from Concord & Chelmsford which we are 
redy to think will be complyd with by s'' Towns 

And s'' Comite do find a bought 15 famelys setled in s"* planta- 
tion of Nashobe (5) in Groton claim and ten in the remainder (and 

4 



26 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

3 famelys which are allredy setled on the powerses farm : were 
convenient to joyn w s'' plantation and are a bought Eaight mille 
to any meting-house) Also ther are a bought Eaight famelys in 
Chelmsford which are allredy setled neer Nashobe line & six or 
seven miles from thir own meeting house 

Jonathan Tyng 
Thomas How 

John Stearns 
In the House of Representatives 
Nov? 2 : 1711. Read 

Oct° 23, 1 7 13. In Council 

Read and accepted ; And the Indians native Proprietors of the 
s'^ Planta"?" Being removed by death Except two or Three families 
only remaining Its Declared and Directed That the said Lands of 
Nashoba be preserved for a Township. 

And Whereas it appears That Groton Concord and Stow by sev- 
eral of their Inhabitants have Encroached and Setled upon the said 
Lands ; This Court sees not reason to remove them to their Dam- 
age ; but will allow them to be and remain with other Inhabitants 
that may be admitted into the Town to be there Setled ; And that 
they have full Liberty when their Names and Number are deter- 
mined to purchase of the few Indians there remaining for the Estab- 
lishment of a Township accordingly. 

Saving convenient Allotments and portions of Land to the re- 
maining Indian Inhabitants for their Setling and Planting. 

Is^ Addington Secfy. 

In the House of Representatives 

Octo.r 23'.'' 17 13. Read 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiii. 600.] 

The inhabitants of Groton had nov^ become alarmed at the 
situation of affairs, fearing that the new town would take away- 
some of their land. Through neglect the plan of the original 
grant, drawn up in the year 1668, had never been returned to 
the General Court for confirmation, as was customary in such 
cases ; and this fact also excited further apprehension. It 
was not confirmed finally until February 10, 1717, several 
years after the incorporation of Nashobah. 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 2/ 

In the General Court Records (ix. 263) in the State Library, 
under the date of June 18, 171 3, it is entered: — 

Upon reading a Petition of the Inhabitants of the Town of 
Groton, Praying that the Return & Flat of the Surveyor of tlieir 
Township impowered by the General Court may be Accepted for 
the Settlement & Ascertaining the Bounds of their Township, Ap- 
prehending they are likely to be prejudiced by a Survey lately taken 
of the Grant of Nashoba ; 

Voted a Concurrence with the Order pass'd thereon in the House 
of Represent""^ That the Petitioners serve the Proprietors of Nash- 
oba Lands with a copy of this Petition, That they may Shew Cause, 
if any they have on the second Fryday of the Session of this Court 
in the Fall of the Year, Why the Prayer therof may not be granted, 
& the Bounds of Groton settled according to the ancient Plat of said 
Town herewith exhibited. , 

There are two sets of General Court Records, — one in the 
State Library, and the other in the office of the Secretary of 
State, — sometimes varying slightly in phraseology ; and I 
have quoted from the one or the other, as seemed best for my 
purpose, at the same time noting which one was used. 

It is evident from the records that the Nashobah lands gave 
rise to much controversy. Many petitions were presented to 
the General Court, and many claims made, growing out of this 
territory. The following entry is found in the General Court 
Records (ix. 369) in the State Library, under the date of No- 
vember 2, 1 7 14: — 

The following Order pass'd by the Represent''5= Read & Con- 
cur'd ; viz, 

Upon Consideration of the many Petitions & Claims relating to 
the Land called Nashoba Land ; Ordered that the said Nashoba 
Land be made a Township, with the Addition of such adjoining 
Lands of the Neighbouring Towns, whose Owners shall petition for 
that End, & that this Court should think fit to grant, That the said 
Nashoba Lands having been long since purchased of the Indians 
by M' Bulkley & Henchman one Half, the other Half byWhetcomb 
& Powers, That the said purchase be confirmed to the children of 
the said Bulkley, Whetcomb & Powers, & Cpt. Robert Meers as 



28 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 



Assignee to M' Henchman according to their respective, Propor- 
tions ; Reserving to the Inhabitants, who have settled within those 
Bounds, their Settlements with Divisions of Lands, in proportion to 
the Grantees, & such as shall be hereafter admitted ; the said 
Occupants or present Inhabitants paying in Proportion as others 
shall pay for their Allotments ; . Provided the said Plantation 
shall be settled with Thirty five Families & an orthodox Minister 
in three years time, And that Five hundred Acres of Land be 
reserved and laid out for the Benefit of any of the Descendants 
of the Indian Proprietors of the said Plantation, that may be sur- 
viving ; A Proportion thereof to be for Sarah Doublet alias Sarah 
Indian ; . The Rev. Mr John Leveret & Spencer Phips Esq' to 
be Trustees for the said Indians to take Care of the said reserved 
Lands for their Use. And it is further Ordered that Cpt. Hope- 
still Brown, M' Timothy Wily & Mr Joseph Burnap of Reading 
be a Committee to lay out the said Five hundred Acres of Land 
reserved for the Indians, & to run the Line between Groton & 
Nashoba, at the Charge of both Parties & make Report to this 
Court, And that however the Line may divide the Land with regard 
to the Township, yet the Proprietors on either side may be con- 
tinued in the Possession of their Improvements, paying as afore- 
said ; And that no Persons legal Right or Property in the said 
Lands shall [be] hereby taken away or infringed. 

Consented to J Dudley 

The report of tbis committee is entered in the same volume 
of General Court Records (ix. 395, 396) in which appears the 
order for their appointment. The date of October 20, men- 
tioned in it, refers to the beginning of the session of the 
Legislature, which had been continued by several prorogations 
to that day. 

The following Report of the Committee for Running the Line be- 
tween Groton & Nashoba Accepted by Represent'" Read & Con- 
cur'd ; Viz. 

We the Subscribers appointed a Committee by the General Court 
to run the Line between Groton & Nashoba & to lay out Five hun- 
dred Acres of Land in said Nashoba to the the [j-zV] Descendants 
of the Indians ; Pursuant to said Order of Court, bearing Date 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 29 

Octob'' 20"' [November 2?] 1714, We the Subscribers return as 
follows ; 

That on the 30'!' of November last, we met on the Premises, & 
heard the Information of the Inhabitants of Groton, Nashoba & 
others of the Neighbouring Towns, referring to the Line that has 
been between Groton & Nashoba & seen several Records, out of 
Groton Town Book, & considered other Writings, that belong to 
Groton & Nashoba, & We have considered all, & We have run the 
Line (Which we account is the old Line between Groton & Nash- 
oba ;) We began next Chelmsford Line, at a Heap of Stones, where. 
We were informed, that there had been a great Pine Tree, the 
Northeast Corner of Nashoba, and run Westerly by many old mark'd 
Trees, to a Pine Tree standing on the Southerly End of Brown Hill 
mark'd N and those marked Trees had been many times marked or 
renewed, tho they do not stand in a direct or strait Line to said 
Pine Tree on said Brown Hill ; And then from said Brown Hill we 
turned a little to the East of the South, & run to a white Oak being 
an old Mark, & so from said Oak to a Pitch Pine by a Meadow, 
being an other old Mark ; & the same Line extended to a white Oak 
near the North east Corner of Stow : And this is all, as we were in- 
formed, that Groton & Nashoba joins together : Notwithstanding 
the Committees Opinion is, that Groton Men be continued in their 
honest Rights, tho they fall within the Bounds of Nashoba ; And 
We have laid out to the Descendants of the Indians Five hundred 
Acres at the South east Corner of the Plantation of Nashoba ; East 
side. Three hundred Poles long, West side three hundred Poles, 
South & North ends. Two hundred & eighty Poles broad ; A large 
white Oak marked at the North west Corner, & many Line Trees 
we marked at the West side & North End, & it takes in Part of two 
Ponds. 

Dated Decemr 14. 17 14. 

HoPESTiLL Brown 
Timothy Wily 
Joseph Burnap 

Consented to J Dudley. 

The incorporation of Nashobah on November 2, 1714, set- 
tled many of the disputes connected with the lands ; but on 
December 3 of the next year, the name was changed from 
Nashobah to Littleton. As already stated, the plan of the 



30 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

original Groton grant had never been returned by the proprie- 
tors to the General Court for confirmation ; and this neglect 
had acted to their prejudice. After Littleton had been set 
off, the town of Groton undertook to repair the injury and 
make up the loss. John Shepley and John Ames were ap- 
pointed agents to bring about the necessary confirmation by 
the General Court. It is an interesting fact to know that in 
their petition (General Court Records, x. 216, February 11, 
1717, in the office of the Secretary of State) they speak of 
having in their possession at that time the original plan of the 
town, made by Danforth in the year 1668, though it was 
somewhat defaced. In the language of the Records, it was 
said to be " with the Petitioner," which expression in the 
singular number may have been intentional, referring to John 
Shepley, probably the older one, as certainly the more influen- 
tial, of the two agents. This plan was also exhibited before 
the General Court on June 18, 1713, according to the Records 
(ix. 263) of that date. 

The case, as presented by the agents, was as follows : — 

A petition of John Sheply & John Ames Agents for the Town of 
Groton Shewing that the General Assembly of the Province did in 
the year 1655, Grant unto Mf Dean Winthrop & his Associates a 
Tract of Land of Eight miles quare for a Plantation to be called 
by the name of Groton, that Thom? & Jonathan Danforth did in 
the year 1668, lay out the said Grant, but the Plat thereof through 
Neglect was not returned to the Court for Confirmation that the 
said Plat tho something defaced is with the Petitioner, That in the 
Year 17 13 M' Samuel Danforth Surveyour & Son of the abovesaid 
Jonathan Danforth, at the desire of the said Town of Groton did 
run the Lines & make an Implatment of the said Township laid 
out as before & found it agreeable to the former. W!" last Plat the 
Petitioners do herewith exhibit, And pray that this Hon''!^ Court 
would allow & confirm the same as the Township of Groton 

In the House of Represent'^ Feb. 10. 1717. Read, Read a second 
time, And Ordered that the Prayer of the Petition be so far granted 
that the Plat herewith exhibited (Altho not exactly conformable to 
the Original Grant of Eight Miles quare) be accounted, accepted & 
Confirmed as the Bounds of the Township of Groton in all parts, 



NASHOBAH AND LITTLETON. 3 1 

Except where the said Township bounds on the Township of Little- 
ton, Where the Bounds shall be & remain between the Towns as 
already stated & settled by this Court, And that this Order shall 
not be understood or interpreted to alter or infringe the Right & 
Title which any Inhabitant or Inhabitants of either of the said 
Towns have or ought to have to Lands in either of the said 
Townships 

In Council, Read & Concur'd, 

Consented to Sam^^ Shute 

[General Court Records (x. 216), February 11, 1717, in the office of the 
Secretary of State.] 




III. 



GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 



The proprietors of Groton felt sore at the loss of their terri- 
tory along the Nashobah line in the year 17 14, though it 
would seem without reason. They had neglected to have the 
plan of their grant confirmed by the proper authorities at 
the proper time ; and no one was to blame for this oversight 
but themselves. In the autumn of 1734 they represented to 
the General Court that in the laying out of the original plan- 
tation no allowance had been made for prior grants in the 
same territory, and that in settling the line with Littleton 
they had lost more than four thousand acres of land ; and in 
consideration of these facts they petitioned for an unappro- 
priated gore of land lying between Dur\stable and Tovvnsend. 

The necessary steps for bringing the matter before the 
General Court at this time were taken at a town meeting, 
held on July 25, 1734. It was then stated that the town had 
lost more than twenty-seven hundred and eighty-eight acres 
by the encroachment of Littleton line ; and that two farms 
had been laid out within the plantation before it was granted 
to the proprietors. Under these circumstances Benjamin 
Prescott was authorized to present the petition to the General 
Court, setting forth the true state of the case and all the facts 
connected with it. The two farms alluded to were Major 
Simon Willard's, situated at Nonacoicus, or Coicus, now within 



Grot on Gore 

as gt-atitpi] ,^.D. 1736. 
Together with Town Lines existing -^J). 1H8'). 




GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 33 

the limits of Ayer, and Ralph Reed's, in the neighborhood of 
the Ridges ; so Mr. Butler told me several years before his 
death, giving Judge James Prescott as his authority, and I 
carefully wrote it down at the time. The statement is con- 
firmed by the report of a committee on the petition of Josiah 
Sartell, made to the House of Representatives, on June 13, 
1 77 1. Willard's farm, however, was not laid out before the 
original plantation was granted, but in the spring of 1657, 
two years after the grant. At that time Danforth had not 
made his plan of the plantation, which fact may have given 
rise to the misapprehension. Ralph Reed was one of the 
original proprietors of the town, and owned a fifteen-acre 
right ; but I do not find that any land was granted him by 
the General Court. Major Willard's farm comprised five hun- 
dred acres, according to the grant, but probably it was surveyed 
with the looseness and liberality of that period. Its shape can 
still be traced, in part, by the irregular boundary of the town 
of Ayer, along the western half of its southern border. 

It has been incorrectly supposed, and more than once so 
stated in print, that the gore of land petitioned for by Benja- 
min Prescott lay in the territory now belonging to Pepperell ; 
but this is a mistake. The only unappropriated land between 
Dunstable and Townsend, as asked for in the petition, lay in 
the angle made by the western boundary of Dunstable and 
the northern boundary of Townsend ; and here it was granted. 
A reference to the accompanying map will show its situation ; 
and furthermore it will throw a little light on Mr. Ithamar 
Bard Sawtelle's remark, in his History (page 50), that the 
town of Townsend had no northeast corner until the year 
1 74 1, when the new Provincial line was run. Before this time 
there had been some dispute in regard to the northeast corner, 
which was by no means well defined. At that period Dun- 
stable was a very large township, and included within its 
territory several modern towns, lying mostly in New Hamp- 
shire. The manuscript records of the General Court define 
very clearly the lines of the Gore, and leave no doubt in regard 
to it. It lay within the present towns of Mason, Brookline, 

S 



34 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Wilton, Milford, and Greenville, New Hampshire. Benjamin 
Prescott was at the time a member of the General Court, and 
the most influential man in town. His petition was presented 
to the House of Representatives on November 28, 1734, and 
referred to a committee, which made a report thereon a fort- 
night later. They are as follows : — 

A Petition of Benjamin Prescot, Esq ; Representative of the Town 
of Groton, and in behalf of the Proprietors of the said Town, shew- 
ing that the General Court in May 1655, in answer to the Petition of 
Mr. Dean Winthrop and others, were pleased to grant the Petition- 
ers a tract of Land of the contents of eight miles square, the Plan- 
tation to be called Groton, that in taking a Plat of the said tract 
there was no allowance made for prior Grants &:c. by means whereof 
and in settling the Line with Liitlcto7i Anno 17 15, or thereabouts, 
the said Town of Groton falls short more than four thousand acres 
of the Original Grant, praying that the said Proprietors may obtain 
a Grant of what remains undisposed of of a Gore of Land lying be- 
tween Dmistable and Towns/iend, or an equivalent elsewhere of the 
Province Land. Read and Ordered, That Col. Chandler, Capt. 
Blanchard, Capt. Hobson, Major Epes, and Mr. Hale, be a Com- 
mittee to take this Petition under consideration, and report what 
may be proper for the Court to do in answer thereto. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 94), November 28, 1734.] 

Col. Chandler from the Committee appointed the 28//;. ult. to 
consider the Petition of Benja7nin Prescot, Esq ; in behalf of the 
Proprietors of Groton, made report, which was read and accepted, 
and in answer to this Petition, Voted, That a Grant of ten thousand 
eight hundred acres of the Lands lying in the Gore between Dun- 
stable and Tozv7isheiid, be and hereby is made to the Proprietors of 
the Town of Groton, as an equivalent for what was taken from them 
by Littleton and Coyachus or Wi I lard's Farm (being about two acres 
and a half for one) and is in full satisfaction thereof, and that the 
said Proprietors be and hereby are allowed and impowred by a 
Surveyor and Chain-men on Oath to survey and lay out the said 
ten thousand eight hundred acres in the said Gore, and return a 
Plat thereof to this Court within twelve months for confirmation to 
them their heirs and assigns respectively. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 119), December 12, 1734.] 



GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 35 

The proprietors of Groton had a year's time allowed them, 
in which they could lay out the grant, but they appear to have 
taken fifteen months for the purpose. The record of the 
grant is as follows : — 

A Memorial of Benj^ Prescott Esq : Represent^ of the Town of 
Groton in behalf of the Proprietors there, praying that the Votes 
of the House on his Memorial & a plat of Ten Thousand Eight 
hundred Acres of Land, lately Granted to the said Proprietors, as 
Entred in the House the 25 of March last, may be Revived and 
Granted, The bounds of which Tract of Land as Mentioned on the 
said Plat are as follows viz! ; begining at the North West Corner of 
Dunstable at Dram Cup hill by Sohegan River and Runing South 
in Dunstable line last Perambulated and Run by a Com"""" of the 
General Court, two Thousand one hundred & fifty two poles to 
Townshend line, there making an angle, and Runing West 31 1-2 
Deg. North on Townshend line & province Land Two Thousand 
and Fifty Six poles to a Pillar of Stones then turning and Runing 
by Province Land 31 1-2 deg North two Thousand & forty Eight 
poles to Dunstable Corner first mentioned 

In the House of Represent'^. Read & Ordered that the prayer of 
the Memorial be Granted, and further that the within Plat as Re- 
formed and Altered by Jonas Houghton Survey" be and hereby is 
accepted and the Lands therein Delineated and Described (Except- 
ing the said One Thousand Acres belonging to Cambridge School 
Farm and therein included) be and hereby are Confirmed to the 
Proprietors of the Town of Groton their heirs and Assignes Respec- 
tivly forever. According to their Several Interests ; Provided the 
same do not interfere with any former Grant of this Court nor Ex- 
ceeds the Quantity of Eleven thousand and Eight hundred Acres 
and the Committee for the Town of Ipswich are Allowed and Im- 
powTed to lay out such quantity of Land on their West line as is 
Equivalent to what is taken off their East line as aforesaid, and Re- 
turn a plat thereof to this Court within twelve Months for confirma- 
tion. In Council Read & Concurr'd. 

Consented to J Belcher 

And in Answer to the said Memorial of Benj'' Prescott Esq' 
In the House of Represent'"! Ordered that the prayer of the 
Memorial be Granted and the Com'^" for the new Township Granted 



Z^ BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

to some of the Inhabitants of Ipswich are hereby Allowed to lay 
out an Equivalent on the West line of the said New Township 
Accordingly 

In Council Read & Concurr'd 

Consented to J Belcher 

[General Court Records (xvi. 334), June 15, 1736, in the office of the Secre- 
tary of State.] 

This grant, now made to the proprietors of Groton, inter- 
fered with the territory previously given in April, 1735, to 
certain inhabitants of Ipswich ; but the mistake was soon 
rectified, as appears by the following : — 

Voted, That one thousand seven hundred Acres of the unappro- 
priated Lands of the Province be and hereby is given and granted 
to the Proprietors or Grantees of the Township lately granted to 
sixty Inhabitants of the Town of Ipswich, as an Equivalent for 
about that quantity being taken off their Plat by the Proprietors of 
the Common Lands of Groton, and that the Ipswich Grantees be 
allowed to lay out the same on the Northern or Westerly Line of 
the said new Township or on both sides. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 108), January 12, 1736.] 

The record of the grant clearly marks the boundaries of 
Groton Gore, and by it they can easily be identified. Dram 
Cup Hill, near Souhegan River, the old northwest corner of 
Dunstable, is in the present town of Milford, New Hamp- 
shire. From that hill the line ran south for six or seven miles, 
following the western boundary of Dunstable, until it came to 
the old Town send line ; then it turned and ran northwesterly 
six miles or more, when turning again it made for the original 
starting-place at Dunstable northwest corner. These lines 
enclosed a triangular district which became known as Groton 
Gore ; in fact, the word gore means a lot of land of triangular 
shape. This territory is now entirely within the State of 
New Hampshire, lying mostly in Mason, but partly in Brook- 
line, Wilton, Milford, and Greenville. It touches in no place 
the tract, hitherto erroneously supposed to comprise the Gore. 



GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 37 

It was destined, however, to remain only a few years in the 
possession of the proprietors ; but during this short period it 
was used by them for pasturing cattle. Mr. John Boynton 
Hill, in his History of the Town of Mason, New Hampshire, 
says : — 

Under this grant, the inhabitants of Groton took possession of, 
and occupied the territory. It was their custom to cut the hay 
upon the meadows, and stack it, and early in the spring to send up 
their young cattle to be fed upon the hay, under the care of Boad, 
the negro slave. They would cause the woods to be fired, as it was 
called, that is, burnt over in the spring • after which fresh and suc- 
culent herbage springing up, furnished good store of the finest feed, 
upon which the cattle would thrive and fatten through the season, 
Boad's camp was upon the east side of the meadow, near the 
residence of the late Joel Ames. (Page 26.) 

In connection with the loss of the gore, a brief statement 
of the boundary question between Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire is here given. 

During many years the dividing line between these two 
Provinces was the subject of controversy. The cause of dis- 
pute dated back to the time when the original grant was made 
to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The charter was drawn 
up in England at a period when little was known in regard to 
the interior of this country ; and the boundary lines, necessa- 
rily, were somewhat indefinite. The Merrimack River was 
an important factor in fixing the limits of the grant, as the 
northern boundary of Massachusetts was to be a line three 
miles north of any and every part of it. At the date of the 
charter, the general direction of the river was not known, but 
it was incorrectly assumed to be easterly and westerly. As a 
matter of fact, the course of the Merrimack is southerly, for 
a long distance from where it is formed by the union of the 
Winnepesaukee and the Pemigewasset Rivers, and then it 
turns and runs twenty-five or thirty miles in a northeasterly 
direction to its mouth ; and this deflexion in the current caused 
the dispute. The difference between the actual and the sup- 



38 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

posed direction was a matter of little practical importance so 
long as the neighboring territory remained unsettled, or so 
long as the two Provinces were essentially under one govern- 
ment ; but as the population increased it became an exciting 
and vexatious question. Towns were chartered by Massachu- 
setts in territory claimed by New Hampshire, and this action 
led to bitter feeling and provoking legislation. Massachusetts 
contended for the land "nominated in the bond," which would 
carry the line fifty miles northward into the very heart of New 
Hampshire ; and on the other hand that Province strenuously 
opposed this view of the case, and claimed that the line should 
run, east and west, three miles north of the mouth of the 
river. At one time, a royal commission was appointed to con- 
sider the subject, but their labors produced no satisfactory 
result. At last the matter was carried to England for a deci- 
sion, which was rendered by the king on March 5, 1739-40. 
His judgment was final, and in favor of New Hampshire. It 
gave that Province not only all the territory in dispute, but a 
strip of land fourteen miles in width, lying along her south- 
ern border, mostly west of the Merrimack, which she had 
never claimed. This strip was the tract of land between the 
line running east and west, three miles north of the southern- 
most trend of the river, and a similar line three miles north 
of its mouth. By the decision twenty-eight townships were 
taken from Massachusetts and transferred to New Hampshire. 
The settlement of this disputed question was undoubtedly a 
public benefit, although it caused, at the time, a great deal of 
hard feeling. In establishing the new boundary, Pawtucket 
Falls, situated now in the city of Lowell, and near the most 
southern portion of the river's course, was taken as the start- 
ing-place ; and the line which now separates the two States 
was run west, three miles north of this point. It was surveyed 
officially in the spring of I74i,with reference to the settlement 
of this dispute. 

The new boundary passed through the original Groton 
Plantation, cutting off a triangular portion of its territory, 
now within the limits of Nashua, and a very small corner of 



GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 39 

Hollis, and went to the southward of Groton Gore, leaving 
that tract of land wholly in New Hampshire. 

On June 3, 1771, thirty years after the Gore had been 
lost by the running of the Provincial line, the proprietors of 
the town held a meeting, and appointed Lieutenant Josiah 
Sawtell, Colonel John Bulkley, and Lieutenant Nathaniel Par- 
ker a committee to petition the General Court for a grant of 
land to make up for this loss. They presented the matter to 
that body on June 7, and the following entry in the records 
gives the result : — 

The Committee on the Petition of yosiah Sartei, and others, 
reported. 

Read and accepted, and Whereas it appears to this Court, That 
the Proprietors aforesaid, had a Grant made to them by the General 
Court in April 1735, of Ten Thousand, Eight Hundred Acres of 
Land, in Consideration of Land taken from said Oxxolow by Littleton, 
ALajor Willard and Read's Tar?ns being prior Grants, and for their 
extraordinary Suffering in the former Lndian Wars ; and in June 
1736 said Grant was confirmed to said Proprietors, since which Time, 
the said Proprietors have been entirely dispossessed of said Land by the 
running of the Line between this Province and New-Hampshire : 
And whereas it appears there has been no Cotnpensation made to the 
said Proprietors of G\:oton, for the Lands lost as aforesaid, excepting 
Three Thojisand Acres granted in November last, to James Prescot, 
William Prescot, and Oliver Prescot for their Proportion thereof 
Therefore Resolved, That in Lieu thereof, there be granted to the 
Proprietors of Groton, their Heirs and Assigns forever. Seven Thou- 
sand and Eight Hundred Acres of the unappropriated Lands belong- 
ing to this Province, in the Western Part of the Province, to be 
layed out adjoining to some former Grant, and that they return a 
Plan thereof, taken by a Surveyor and Chainmen under Oath into 
the Secretary's Office, within twelve Months for Confirmation. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 44), June 13, 1771.I 

These conditions, as recommended by the report of the 
committee, appear to have been fulfilled, and a grant was 
accordingly made. It lay on the eastern border of Berkshire 



40 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

County, just south of the central part, and was described as 
follows : — 

The Committee on a Plan of a Tract of Land granted to the 
Proprietors of Groton, reported. 

Read and accepted, and Resolved, That the Plan hereunto an- 
nexed, containing three Thousand nine Hundred and sixty Acres of 
Province Land, laid out in Part to satisfy a Grant made by the 
Great and General Court at their Sessions in June 177 1, to the 
Proprietors of Groton, in Lieu of Land they lost by the late run- 
ning of the Ncw-HampsJnre Line, as mention'd in their Petition, 
laid out in the County of Berkshire, and is bounded as follovveth, 
viz. Beginning at a Burch Tree and Stones laid round it the South- 
west Corner of Tyringham-Equivalent Lands standing on the East 
Branch of Farmington River ; then North eighteen Degrees East in 
the West Line of said Equivalent five Hundred and sixty-one Rods 
to a small Beach Tree and Stones laid round it, which Tree is the 
Southeast Corner of a Grant of Land called IVoolcnfs Grant ; then 
running West eighteen Degrees North in the South Line of said 
Grant two Hundred and forty Rods to a Beach Tree marked L W. 
and Stones laid round it, which is the Southwest Corner of said 
Grant ; then running North eighteen Degrees East in the West Line 
of said Grant four Hundred Rods to a Heap of Stones which is the 
Northwest Corner of said Grant ; then running East eighteen De- 
grees South two Hundred and forty Rods in the North Line of said 
Grant to a large Hemlock Tree and Stones laid round it, which is 
the Northeast Corner of said Grant ; it is also the Northwest Cor- 
ner of said Equivalent, and the Southwest Corner of a Grant called 
Taylor's Grant ; then running North eighteen Degrees East one 
Hundred and sixty Rods in the West Line of said Taylor'' s Grant to 
the Northwest Corner of the same ; then running East nine Degrees 
South in the Line of said Taylor's Grant eight Hundred Rods to a 
Stake and Stones standing in the West Line of Blanford, marked 
W. T. then running North eighteen Degrees East in said Bla7iford 
West Line five Hundred and thirty Rods to a Beach Tree and 
Stones laid round it which is the Northwest Corner of said Blanford; 
then running East ten Degrees South forty-two Rods in the North 
Line of said Blanford to a Stake and Stones which is the Southwest 
Corner of Merryfield ; then running North ten Degrees East in said 
Merryfield West Line three Hundred and three Rods to a Heap of 



GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 41 

Stones the Southeast Corner oi Becket ; then running West two De- 
grees South in said Becket South Line four Hundred and twenty-six 
Rods to the Northeast Corner of a Grant of Land called Belcher's 
Grant ; then running South in the East Line of said Belcher's Grant 
two Hundred and sixteen Rods to a small Maple Tree marked 
T. R, which is the Northwest Corner of a Grant of Land called 
Ba?id's Grant ; then running East in the North Line of said Rand's 
Grant two Hundred and fifty Rods to a Hemlock Pole and Stones 
laid round it, which is the Northeast Corner of said Rand's Grant ; 
then running South in the East Line of said Rand's Grant three 
Hundred and thirty-one Rods to a Hemlock Tree marked and 
Stones laid round it, which is the Southeast Corner of said Rand's 
Grant ; then running West in the South Line of said Rand's Grant 
two Hundred and fifty Rods to a Beach Pole marked T. R. the 
Southwest Corner of said Rand's Grant ; then running North in the 
West Line of said Rand's Grant eighty-three Rods to the Southeast 
Corner of said Belcher's Grant ; then running West bounding North 
three Hundred and forty-eight on said Belcher's Grant and four 
Hundred and fifty-three Rods on a Grant called Chandler's Grant, 
then running North on the West Line of said Chandler's Grant four 
Hundred and sixty to said Becket's South Line ; then running West 
in said Becket South Line twenty Rods to a Stake and Stones the 
North West Corner of additional Lands belonging to the Four 
Housatonick Townships ; then running South two Degrees West 
one Thousand four Hundred and eighty-eight Rods in the East 
Line of said additional Lands to the Place where the said East Line 
crosses said Farmington River ; then Southerly or down Stream 
three Hundred and thirty Rods to the first Bounds, bounding West- 
erly on said River, be accepted, and is hereby accepted and con- 
firmed unto the Proprietors of Groton aforesaid, their Heirs and 
Assigns forever. Provided the same doth not exceed the Quantity 
aforementioned, nor interfere with any former Grant. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 
[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 1S2, 183), April 24, 1772.] 

I am unable to say how or when this territory was disposed 
of by the proprietors. Seven or eight years before this time, 
James, William, and Oliver Prescott, acting for themselves as 
extensive owners, had petitioned the General Court for a tract 

6 



43 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

of land to make up their own losses. They were the sons of 
the Honorable Benjamin Prescott, through whose influence 
and agency the original Groton Gore was granted, and they 
were also the largest proprietors of the town. The following 
extracts from the Journal of the House relate to their appli- 
cation : — 

A Petition of yanies Prescot, and others, Children and Heirs of 
BeJijamin Prescot, late of Groton, Esq ; deceased, praying a Grant 
of the unappropriated Lands of this Province, in consideration of 
sundry Tracts which they have lost by the late running of the Line 
between this Government and Neiv-Hampshb-e. 

Read and committed to Col. Clap, Col. Nichols, Col. Williams 
of Roxbury, Col. Buckmitister, and Mr. Lancaster, to consider and 
Report. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 187), January 12, 1764.] 

On February 3, 1764, this petition was put over to the May 
session, though I do not find that it came up then for consid- 
eration. It does not appear again for some years. 

A Petition of yatnes Prescot, Esq ; and others, praying that a 
Grant of Land may be made them in Lieu of a former Grant, which 
falls within the New-Hampshire Line. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 129), November 2, 1770.] 

This petition was referred to a committee consisting of Dr. 
Samuel Holten, of Danvers, Colonel Joseph Gerrish, of New- 
bury, and Mr. Joshua Bigelow, of Worcester. 

The Committee on the Petition of yames Prescot, Esq ; and 
others, reported. 

Read and accepted, and Resolved, That in Lieu of Lands men- 
tioned in the Petition, there be granted to the Petitioners, their 
Heirs and Assigns, Four Thousand Four Hundred Acres of the un- 
appropriated Lands belonging to the Province, to be laid out in the 
Westerly Part thereof, adjoining to some former Grants, provided 
they can find the same ; or Five Thousand Eight Hundred and 
Eighty Acres of the unappropriated Lands lying on the Easterly 



GROTON GORE AND THE PROVINCIAL LINE. 43 

side of Saco River ; it being their Proportion in said Grant : And 
return a Plan thereof taken by a Surveyor and Chainmen under 
Oath, into the Secretary's Office within Twelve Months. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 156), November 14, 1770.] 

The Committee appointed to consider the Plan of two Tracts of 
Land granted to ^ufnes Prescot, Esq ; and others, reported. 

Read and accepted. Resolved, That both the above Plans, the 
one containing Four Thousand one Hundred and thirty Acres, the 
other containing two Hundred and seventy Acres, delineated and 
described as is set forth by the Surveyor in the Description thereof 
hereunto annexed, be accepted, and hereby is confirmed to yames 
Prescot, Esq j and others named in their Petition, and to their Heirs 
and Assigns in Lieu of and full Satisfaction for Four Thousand 
four Hundred Acres of Land lost by the late running of the Line 
between this Province and Neiv-Hampshire, as mention 'd in a Grant 
made by both Houses of the Assembly, A. D. 1765, but not con- 
sented to by the Governor. Provided both said Plans together do 
not exceed the Quantity of Four Thousand four Hundred Acres, 
nor interfere with any former Grant. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 73, 74), June 22, 1771.] 

It is evident from these reports that the Prescott brothers 
took the forty-four hundred acres in the westerly part of the 
Province, rather than the fifty-eight hundred and eighty acres 
on the easterly side of the Saco River, though I have been un- 
able to identify, beyond a doubt, the tract of land thus granted. 
Perhaps the smaller parcel was the one mentioned in the 
Memorial of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorpo- 
ration of Middlefield, Massachusetts, August 15, 1883. The 
town is situated on the westerly border of Hampshire County, 
forming a jog into Berkshire, and was made up in part 
of Prescott's grant. A map is given in the " Memorial " vol- 
ume (page 16) which shows that the grant was originally in 
Berkshire County, very near the tract of land given to the 
proprietors of Groton. 



44 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Professor Edward Payson Smith, of Worcester, delivered an 
historical address on the occasion of the anniversary, and he 
says : — 

Prescott's Grant, the nucleus of the town, appears as a large 
quadrilateral, containing more than a thousand acres in the north 
and west part of the town. Who the Prescott was to whom the 
grant was made is not known, further than that he must have been 
some one who had rendered military or other services to the State. 
That he was the Prescott who commanded at Bunker Hill is, indeed, 
possible ; but, as the grant was probably made before the Revolu- 
tionary War, that supposition seems hardly tenable. (Page 15.) 




IV. 



WESTFORD AND HARVARD. 



A 4he 



In the early autunTn the original plantation had suffered 
further dismemberment, when a slice of its territory was given 
to Westford, It was a long and narrow tract of land, trian- 
gular in shape, with its base resting on Stony Brook Pond, 
now known as Forge Pond, and coming to a point near Mill- 
stone Hill, where the boundary lines of Groton, Westford, 
and Tyngsborough intersect. The Reverend Edwin Ruth- 
ven Hodgman, in his History of Westford, says : — 

Probably there was no computation of the area of this triangle 
at any time. Only four men are named as the owners of it, but 
they, it is supposed, held titles to only a portion, and the remainder 
was wild, or ''common," land. (Page 25.) 

In the Journal of the House of Representatives (page 9), 
September 10, 1730, there is recorded, in connection with this 
transfer of territory, — 

A Petition of Jonas Prescot, Ebciiczer Pfescot, Abner Ke?it, and 
EbeJiezer TowJisetid, Inhabitants of the Town of Groton, praying, 
That they and their Estates, contained in the following Boundaries, 
viz. beginning at the Northwesterly Corner of Stony Brook Pond, 
from thence extending to the Northwesterly Corner of Westford, 
commonly called Tyti^s Corner, and so bound Southerly by said 
Pond, may be set off to the Town of Westford, for Reasons men- 
tioned. Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners within named, 



46 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

with their Estates, according to the Bounds before recited, be and 
hereby are to all Intents and Purposes set off from the Town of 
Groton, and annexed to the said Town of Westford. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

This order received the concurrence of the Council, and 
was signed by the Governor, on the same day that it passed 
the House. 

During this period the town of Harvard was incorporated. 
It was made up from portions of Groton, Lancaster, and Stow, 
and the engrossed Act signed by the Governor, on June 29, 
1732. The petition for the township was presented to the 
General Court nearly two years before the date of incorpora- 
tion. In the Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 
84, 85), October 9, 1730, it is recorded: — 

A Petition of jfonas Houghton, Simon Stone, Jonathan Whitney, 
and Thomas Wheeler, on behalf of themselves, and on behalf and 
at the desire of sundry of the Inhabitants on the extream parts of 
the Towns of Lancaster, Groton and Stow, named in the Schedule 
thereunto annexed ; praying, That a 7>act of Land (with the Inhab- 
itants thereon, particularly described and bounded in said Petition) 
belonging to the Towns above-mentioned, may be incorporated and 
erected into a distinct Township, agreeable to said Bounds, for 
Reasons mentioned. Read, together with the said Schedule, and 
Ordered, That the Petitioners serve the Towns of Lancaster, Groton 
and Stow with Copies of the Petition, that they may shew Cause 
(if any they have) on the first Thursday of the next Session, why 
the Prayer thereof may not be granted. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

Further on, in the same Journal (page 136), December 29, 
1730, it is also recorded : — 

The Petition of Jfonas LLoiighton, Simon Stone, and others, pray- 
ing as entred the gth. of October last. Read again, together with 
the Answers of the Towns of Lancaster, Groton and Stow, and 
Ordered, That Maj. Brattle and Mr. Samuel Chandler, with such as 
the Honourable Board shall appoint, be a Committee, (at the 
Charge of the Petitioners) to repair to the Land Petitioned for to 



WESTFORD AND HARVARD. 47 

be a Township, that they carefully view and consider the Situation 
and Circumstances of the Petitioners, and Report their Opinion 
what may be proper for this Court to do in Answer thereto, at their 
next Session. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

Ebcnezer Burrel Esq ; brought down from the Honourable Board, 
the Report of the Committee appointed by this Court the 30th of 
December last, to take under Consideration the Petition of yonas 
Houghton and others, in behalf of themselves and sundry of the 
Inhabitants of the Eastern part of the Towns of Lancaster^ Groton 
and Stow, praying that they may be erected into a separate Town- 
ship. Likewise a Petition of jfacob Houghton and others, of the 
North-easterly part of the Town of Laticaster, praying the like. As 
also a Petition of sundry of the Inhabitants of the South-west part 
of the North-east Quarter of the Township of Lancaster^ praying 
they may be continued as they are. Pass'd in Council, viz. In 
Council, yune 21, 1731. Read, and Ordered, That this Report be 
accepted. 

Sent down for Concurrence. Read and Concurred. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 52), June 22, 1731.] 

The original copy of the petition for Harvard is now lost ; 
but in the first volume (page 53) of "Ancient Plans Grants 
&c." among the Massachusetts Archives, there is a rough plan 
of the town, with a list of the petitioners, which may be the 
" Schedule " referred to in the extract from the printed Jour- 
nal. It appears from this document that, in forming the new 
town, forty-eight hundred and thirty acres of land were taken 
from the territory of Groton ; and with the tract were nine 
families, including six by the name of Farnsworth. This region 
comprised the district known, even now, as the Old Mill, 
where Jonas Prescott had, as early as the year 1667, a mill 
for grinding and sawing. The heads of these families were 
Jonathan Farnsworth, Eleazer Robbins, Simon Stone, Jr., Jona- 
than Farnsworth, Jr., Jeremiah Farnsworth, Eleazer Davis, 
Ephraim Farnsworth, Reuben Farnsworth, and Daniel Farns- 
worth, who had petitioned the General Court to be set off 
from Groton. On this plan of Harvard the names of John 



48 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Burk, John Burk, Jr., and John Davis, appear in opposition to 
Houghton's petition. Statistics also are given relating to 
Lancaster and Stow. 

Eleazer Davis, one of the petitioners, was in the famous 
Lovewell's Fight, on May 8, 1725, at Pequawket, now within 
the limits of Fryeburg, Maine. In the Journal of the House 
of Representatives (page 42), June 15, 1738, is entered: — 

A Petition of Eleazer Davis of Harvard in the County of Wor- 
cester, praying the Consideration of the Court on Account of his Suf- 
ferings and Services, particularly the Wounds and Smart received 
in the Fight under the Command of the late Capt. Loveivell, against 
the Indian Enemy at Pigwacket. 

Read and Ordered, That John R^isscU, and Robert Hale, Esqrs ; 
Mr. Moodey, and Mr. Terry, be a Committee to consider the said 
Petition, and report what may be proper to be done thereon. 

On the following day Mr. Russell, the chairman of the 
Committee, reported an order that — 

The Sum of four Pounds per Annum of the new tenor Bills, be 
granted and allowed to be paid out of the publick Treasury for the 
space of five Years to the Petitioner Eleazer Davis, to commence 
from the first Day of this Instant June, by way of Stipend or Pen- 
sion, on Account of the Wounds and Smart received as within 

mentioned. 

Sent up for concurrence. 

Another paper relating to the town of Harvard is the fol- 
lowing memorial, which is, without doubt, substantially the 
same as the original petition, now lost : — 

To his Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esqf Cap* General and Gov- 
ernour in Chief The Hon''!^ The Council and the Honourable House 
of Representatives of His Majestys Province of the Massachusetts 
Bay in New England in General Court Assembled by Adjournment 
Decemb!' 16 1730 

The Memorial of Jonas Haughton Simon Stone Jonathan Whit- 
ney and Thomas Wheeler Humbly Sheweth 

That upon their Petition to this Great and Honourable Court in 
October last [the 9th] praying that a Certain Tract of Land belong- 



WESTFORD AND HARVARD. 49 

ing to Lancaster Stow and Groton with the Inhabitants thereon may 
be Erected into a Distinct and Seperate Township (and for Reasons 
therein Assigned) your Excellency and Honours were pleased to 
Order that the petitioners Serve The Towns of Lancaster Groton 
and Stow with a Copy of their said Petition that they may shew 
Cause if any they have on the first Thursday of the next Sessions 
why the prayers thereof may not be granted 

And for as much as this great and Hon'"'.'-" Court now Sitts by Ad- 
journment and the next Session may be very Remote And your 
Memorialists have attended the Order of this Hon'f Court in serv- 
ing the said Several Towns with Copys of the said Petition And the 
partys are now attending and Desirous the hearing thereon may be 
brought forward y"" former order of this Hon' Court notwithstanding 

They therefore most humbly pray your Excellency &c Honours 
would be pleased to Cause the hearing to be had this present Ses- 
sion and that a Certain day may be assigned for the same as your 
Excellency & Honours in your great wisdom & Justice shall see 
meet. 

And your Memorialists as in Duty bound Shall Ever pray 

Jonas Houghton 
Simon Stoon Juner 
Jonathan Whitney 
Thomas VVheler 

In the House of Rep''T" Dec"" 17 1730 Read and in Answer to 
this Petition Ordered That the Pet" give Notice to the Towns of 
Lancaster Groton and Stow or their Agents that they give in their 
Answer on the twenty ninth Inst^ why the Prayer of the Petition 
within referred to may not be granted 

Sent up for Concurrence 

J QuiNCY SpV 

In Council Dec. 18, 1730; Read and Concur'd 

J Willard Secry 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 6-8.] 

In the Journal of the House of Representatives (page 45) 
June 29, 1732, the following entry is made : — 

A Bill Entitled An Act for erecting a new Town within the County 
of Worcester by the Name of Harvard. 

7 



50 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

By this Act the town was incorporated, and so named in 
honor of the founder of Harvard College, probably at the sug- 
gestion of Jonathan Belcher, Governor of the Province at that 
time, and a graduate of the college. The engrossed Act on 
parchment is still preserved in the office of the Secretary of 
State, and the following is a copy. It will be noticed, how- 
ever, that the name of the town is left blank, except in the 
title, where it was written by Secretary Willard. It was not 
unusual in this kind of legislation at that period to leave the 
name of a town blank in the Act of Incorporation, when it 
passed the General Court ; and subsequently it was filled in 
by the Governor, or at his order : — 

Anno Regni Regis Georgii Secundi Quinto & Sexto 

An Act for erecting a New Town within the county of Worcester, 
by the name of Harvard 

Whereas the Inhabitants of the extream parts of the Towns of 
Lancaster Groton and Stow have laboured under much difficulty 
and inconvenience by reason of their remoteness from the places of 
publick Worship in the Towns to which they respectively belong, & 
have supported the Cost and Charge of preaching among them for 
several years past without any Consideration from their Towns, and 
have addressed this Court for Relief, & that they may be set off a 
distinct township by themselves 

Be it therefore Enacted by His Excellency the Governour, Coun- 
cil and Representatives in General Court assembled & by the au- 
thority of the same that the Lands in the extream parts of the 
Towns of Lancaster Groton and Stow as the same are hereafter 
bounded and described be and hereby are Set off, & Constituted a 
seperate & distinct Township by the name of Harvard viz' begin- 
ing at the Southerly End of the Causeway, near the House of Sam- 
uel Wilson in Lancaster and from thence running North West and 
by West till the line meets with Lancaster [Nashua] River, & from 
said Cause Way running South East & by East to Lancaster East 
bounds then running Northerly in the East Bounds of Lancaster till 
it comes to Beaver Brook, then bounding on said Brook till it comes 
to Littleton Bounds, and then running on said Littleton line near to 
the Northwest corner thereof vizt. so far as that a West North West 



WESTFORD AND HARVARD. 51 

Line shall leave the dwelling house of James Stone in Groton six 
perch to the Northward, and continuing the same Course to Lan- 
caster River aforesaid, excepting Coyacus ffarm or so much thereof 
as shall fall within the bounds above said ; and to bound West on 
said River and that the Inhabitants of the said lands as before 
bounded and described be and hereby are vested with all the powers 
privileges and Immunities which the Inhabitants of any Town in this 
province are or by Law ought to be vested with 

provided that the ffreeholders and other Inhabitants of the said 
Town Settle a learned and Orthodox Minister among them within 
the space of two years and also erect an House for the publick 
Worship of God 

and Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that the 
aforesaid Town of be and hereby is Declared to be 

within the County of Worcester, Any Law Usage or Custom to 
the contrary notwithstanding 

1732 June 2o'^ This Bill having been read three several times in 
the House of Representatives passed to be Enacted 

1732 June 21^' J QuiNCY Sp""" 

1732 June 29 This Bill having been read three several Times in 
Council passed to be Enacted J Willard Seci-y 

By His Excellency the Govern' 

June 29, 1732 I consent to the Enacting of this Bill 

J Belcher 

The next dismemberment of the Groton grant took place in 
the winter of 1738-39, when a parcel of land was set off to 
Littleton. I do not find a copy of the petition for this change, 
but from Mr. Sartell's communication it seems to have re- 
ceived the qualified assent of the town : — 

To his Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esq' Captain General & 
Governour in Chief &c the Honorable Council and House of Rep- 
resentatives in General Court assembled at Boston Jan? i, 1738. 
May it please your Excellency and the Honorable Court 
Whereas there is Petition offered to your Excellency and the 
Honorable Court by several of the Inhabitants of the Town of Gro- 
ton praying to be annexed to the Town of Littleton »Sic 



52 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

The Subscriber as Representative of said Town of Groton and 
in Behalf of said Town doth hereby manifest the Willingness of the 
Inhabitants of Groton in general that the petitioners should be an- 
nexed to the said Town of Littleton with the Lands that belong to 
them Lying within the Line Petitioned for, but there being a Con- 
siderable Quantity of Proprietors Lands and other particular per- 
sons Lying within the Line that is Petitioned for by the said 
Petitioners. The Subscriber in Behalf of said Town of Groton & 
the Proprietors and others would humbly pray your Excellency and 
the Honorable Court that that part of their Petition may be rejected 
if in your Wisdom you shall think it proper and that they be sett off 
with the lands only that belong to them Lying within the Line Pe- 
titioned for as aforesaid, and the Subscriber in Behalf of the Town 
of Groton &c will as in Duty Bound ever pray &c 

Nathaniel Sartell 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 300.] 

jfohn jfcffrics, Esq; brought down the Petition oi Peter Lmvretice 
and others of Groton^ praying to be annexed to Littleton., as entred 
the 1 2th ult. Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council jfanuary \th 1738. 
Read again, together with the Answer of Nathanad Sartell., Esq • 
Representative for the Town of Groton, which being considered, Or- 
dered, That the Prayer of the Petition be so far granted as that the 
Petitioners with their Families & Estates within the Bounds men- 
tioned in the Petition be and hereby are set off from the Town 
of Groton, and are annexed to and accounted as part of the Town 
of Littleton, there to do Duty and receive Priviledge accordingly. 

Sent down for Concurrence. Read and concur'd. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 86), January 4, 173S.] 




V. 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 



I. 



In the autumn of 1738, many of the settlers living in the 
northerly part of Groton, now within the limits of Pepperell, 
and in the westerly part of Dunstable, now Hollis, New Hamp- 
shire, were desirous to be set off in a new township. Their 
petition for this object was also signed by a considerable num- 
ber of non-resident proprietors, and duly presented to the 
General Court. The reasons given by them for the change 
are found in the followine: documents: — 



To His Excellency Jon^ Belcher Esqf Captain General and Gov- 
ernour in Chief &c The Hon'"'.'-' the Council and House of Rep"^" in 
General Court Assembled at Boston November the 29'!' 1738 

The Petition of the Subscribers Inhabitants and Proprietors of 
the Towns of Dunstable and Groton. 

Humbly Sheweth 

That your Petitioners are Situated on the Westerly side Dun- 
stable Township and the Northerly side Groton Township those in 
the Township of Dunstable in General their houses are nine or ten 
miles from Dunstable Meeting house and those in the Township of 
Groton none but what lives at least on or near Six miles from Gro- 
ton Meeting house by which means your petitioners are deprived of 
the benefit of preaching, the greatest part of the year, nor is it pos- 
sible at any season of the year for their familys in General to get to 



54 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Meeting under which Disadvantages your pet" has this Several 
years Laboured, excepting the Winter Seasons for this two winters 
past, which they have at their Own Cost and Charge hired preaching 
amongst themselves which Disadvantages has very much prevented 
peoples Settling land there. 

That there is a Tract of good land well Situated for a Township 
of the Contents of about Six miles and an half Square bounded thus, 
beginning at Dunstable Line by Nashaway River So running by the 
Westerly side said River Southerly One mile in Groton Land, then 
running Westerly a Paralel Line with Groton North Line, till it 
comes to Townsend Line and then turning and running north to 
Grotton Northwest Corner, and from Grotton Northwest Corner by 
Townsend line and by the line of Groton New Grant till it comes to 
be five miles and an half to the Northward of Groton North Line 
from thence due east, Seven miles, from thence South to Nashua 
River and So by Nashua River Southwesterly to Grotton line the 
first mentioned bounds, which described Lands can by no means be 
prejudicial either to the Town of Dunstable or Groton (if not com- 
ing within Six miles or thereabouts of either of their Meeting houses 
at the nearest place) to be taken off from them and Erected into a 
Seperate Township. 

That there is already Settled in the bounds of the aforedescribed 
Tract near forty familys and many more ready to come on were it 
not for the difficulties and hardships afores'.' of getting to Meeting. 
These with many other disadvantages We find very troublesome 
to Us, Our living so remote from the Towns We respectively 
belong to. 

Wherefore your Petitioners most humbly pray Your Excellency 
and Honours would take the premisses into your Consideration and 
make an Act for the Erecting the aforesaid Lands into a Seperate 
and distinct Township with the powers priviledges and Immunities 
of a distinct and Seperate Township under such restrictions and 
Limitations, as you in your Great Wisdom shall see meet. 

And Whereas it will be a great benefit and Advantage to the 
Non resident proprietors owning Lands there by Increasing the 
Value of their Lands or rendering easy Settleing the same, Your 
Pef.^ also pray that they maybe at their proportionable part accord- 
ing to their respective Interest in Lands there, for the building a 
Meeting house and Settling a Minister, and so much towards Con- 
stant preaching as in your wisdom shall be thought proper. 



DUNSTABLE, MOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 55 

Settlers on the afores'.' Lands 

Obadiah Parker Peter Wheeler 

Josiah Blood Robert Colburn 

Jerahmal Cumings David Vering 

Eben' Pearce Philip Woolerick 

Will'" Colburn Nath' Blood 

Stephen Harris William Adams 

Tho? Dinsmoor Joseph Taylor 

Peter Pawer Moses Procter 

Abr? Taylor Jun"" Will'" Shattuck 

Benj'' Farley Thof Navins 
Henry Barton 

Non Resident Proprietors 
Samuel Browne Sam' Baldwin 

W Browne Daniel Remant 

Joseph Blanchard John Malven 

John Fowle Jun: Jon? Malven 

Nath Saltonstall James Cumings 

Joseph Eaton Isaac Farwell 

Joseph Lemmon Eben' Procter 

Jeremiah Baldwin 
In the House of Representatives Deer 12'.'' 1738. Read and 
Ordered that the Petitioners Serve the Towns of Grotton and Dun- 
stable with Coppys of the petition 

In Council January 4'.'' 1738 
Read again and Ordered that the further Consideration of this 
Petition be referred to the first tuesday of the next May Session 
and that James Minot and John Hobson Esq" with Such as the 
Honourable Board shall joine be a Committee at the Charge of the 
Petitioners to repair to the Lands petitioned for to be Erected into 
a Township first giving Seasonable notice as well to the petitioners 
as to the Inhabitants and Non Resident Proprietors of Lands with- 
in the s'' Towns of Dunstable and Groton of the time of their going 
by Causing the same to be publish'd in the Boston Gazette, that 
they carefully View the s'' Lands as well as the other parts of the 
s'.' Towns, so farr as may be desired by the Partys or thought proper, 
that the Petitioners and all others Concerned be fully heard in their 
pleas and Allegations for, as well as against the prayer of the Peti- 



56 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 



tion ; and that upon Mature Consideration on the whole the Com- 
mittee then report what in their Opinion may be proper for tlie 
Court to do in Answer there to Sent up for Concurrence. 

J QuiNCY Sp*".' 

In Council Jan--^ 9'!' 1738 

Read and Concurred and Thomas Berry Esq' is joined in the 

Affair 

Simon Frost Dep*?' Sec'^ 

Consented to J. Belcher 

A true Copy Exam'.' per Simon Frost, Dep^ Sec7 

In the House of Rep''^" June 7'!' 1739 

Read and Concurred 

J QuiNCY Sp''.'' 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 26S-271.] 

The Committee Appointed on the Petition of the Inhabitants and 
Proprietors situated on the Westerly side of Dunstable and Nor- 
therly side of Groton, Having after Notifying all parties, Repaired 
to the Lands, Petitioned to be Erected into a Township, Carefully 
Viewed the same, Find a very Good Tract of Land in Dunstable 
Westward of Nashaway River between s'' River and Souhegan River 
Extending from Groton New Grant and Townsend Line Six Miles 
East, lying in a very Commodious Form for a Township, and on 
said Lands there now is about Twenty Families, and many more 
settling, that none of the Inhabitants live nearer to a Meeting House 
then Seven miles and if they go to their own Town have to pass 
over a ferry the greatest part of the Year. We also Find in Groton 
a sufficient Quantity of Land accommodable for settlement, and a 
considerable Number of Inhabitants thereon, that in Some Short 
Time when they are well Agreed may be Erected into a Distinct 
Parish ; And that it will be very inconvenient to Erect a Township 
in the Form prayed for or to Break in upon Either Town. The 
Committee are of Opinion that the Petitioners in Dunstable are 
under such Circumstances as necessitates them to Ask Relief 
which will be fully Obtained by their being made Township, which 
if this Hon'^'.'" Court should Judge necessary to be done ; The Com- 
mittee are Further of Opinion that it Will be greatly for the Good 
and Interest of the Township that the Non Resident Proprietors, 
have Liberty of Voting with the Inhabitants as to the Building and 
Placing a Meeting House and that the Lands be Equally Taxed, 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 5/ 

towards said House And that for the Support of the Gosple Minis- 
try among them the Lands of the Non Resident Proprietors be 
Taxed at Two pence per Acre for the Space of Five Years. 

All which is Humbly Submitted in the Name & by Order of the 

Committee 

Thomas Berry 

In Council July 7 1739 
Read and ordered that the further Consideration of this Report 
be referred to the next Sitting, and that the Petitioners be in the 
meantime freed from paying anything toward the support of the 
ministry in the Towns to which they respectively belong 
Sent down for Concurrence 



J WiLLARD Sec7 



In the House of Rep""''^ June 7 : 1739 
Read and Concurred 



J QuiNCY Sph' 

Consented to J Belcher 

In Council Decern^ 27, 1739. 
Read again and Ordered that this Report be so far accepted as 
that the Lands mentioned and described therein, with the Inhabi- 
tants there be erected into a Separate & distinct precinct, and the 
Said Inhabitants are hereby vested with all Such Powers & Privi- 
ledges that any other Precinct in this Province have or by Law ought 
to enjoy and they are also impowered to assess & levy a Tax of 
Two pence per Acre per Annum for the Space of Five years on all 
the unimproved Lands belonging to the non resident Proprietors 
to be applied for the Support of the Ministry according to the Said 
Report. 

Sent down for Concurrence 

Simon Frost Dep^ Sec?' 

In the House of Rep''"""' Dec 28. 1739 

Read and Concur'd. 

J QuiNCY Sp*^' 

Janu? I : Consented to, J Belcher 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 272, 273.] 

While this petition was before the General Court, another 
one was presented praying for a new township to be made up 
from the same towns, but including a larger portion of Groton 



58 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

than was asked for in the first petition. This apph'cation met 
with bitter opposition on the part of both places, but it may- 
have hastened the final action on the first petition. It re- 
sulted in setting off a precinct from Dunstable, under the 
name of the West Parish, which is now known as Hollis, New 
Hampshire. Some of the papers relating to the second peti- 
tion are as follows : — 

To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esquire Captain General 
and Governor in Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of the 
Massachusetts Bay in New England, the Honourable the Council 
and House of Representatives of said Province, in General Court 
Assembled Dec. 12'!' 1739. 

The Petition of Richard Warner and Others, Inhabitants of the 
Towns of Groton and Dunstable. 

Most Humbly Sheweth 

That Your Petitioners dwell very far from the place of Public 
Worship in either of the said Towns, Many of them Eight Miles 
distant, some more, and none less than four miles, Whereby Your 
Petitioners are put to great difficulties in Travelling on the Lords 
Days, with our Families. 

Your Petitioners therefore Humbly Pray Your Excellency and 
Honours to take their circumstances into your Wise and Compas- 
sionate Consideration, And that a part of the Town of Groton, 
Beginning at the line between Groton and Dunstable where it 
crosses Lancaster [Nashua] River, and so up the said River until 
it comes to a Place called and Known by the name of Joseph 
Blood's Ford Way on said River, thence a West Point 'till it comes 
to Townshend line Sic. With such a part and so much of the Town 
of Dunstable as this Honourable Court in their great Wisdom shall 
think proper, with the Inhabitants Thereon, may be Erected into 
a separate and distinct Township, that so they may attend the Pub- 
lic Worship of God with more ease than at present they can, by 
reason of the great distance they live from the Places thereof as 
aforesaid. 

And Your Petitioners, as in Duty bound, shall ever Pray &c. 
Richard Warner Isaac Williams 

Benjamin Swallow Ebenezer Gilson 

William Allin Ebenezer Peirce 

Samuel Fisk William Blood 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 59 

John Green Jeremiah Lawrence 

Josiah Tucker Stephen Eames 

Zachariah Lawrence Junf 

" [Inhabitants of Groton] " 

Enoch Hunt Josiah Blood 

Eleazer Flegg Samuel Parker 

Samuel Cumings Samuel Farle 

William Blanchard William Adams 

Gideon Howe Philip Wolrich 

" [Inhabitants of Dunstable] " 

In the House of Repr'" Dec 12"' 1739 
Read and Sent up. 

J QUINCY Sp*"' 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 274, 275.] 

Province of the Massachusetts Bay 

To His Excellency The Governour The Hon^'° Council & House of 
j^gpt.ves jj^ Generall Court Assembled Dec"^ i739 

The Answer of y^ Subscribers agents for the Town of Groton to 
y* Petition of Richard Warner & others praying that part of Said 
Town with part of Dunstable may be Erected into a Distinct & 
Seperate Township. 

May it please your Excellency & Hon'^ 

The Town of Groton Duely Assembled and Taking into Con- 
sideration y*" Reasonableness of said Petition have Voted their 
Willingness, That the prayer of y*^ Petition be Granted as per their 
Vote herewith humbly presented appears, with this alteration 
namely That they Include the River (viz' Nashua River) over w''*' 
is a Bridge, built Intirely to accommodate said Petitioners hereto- 
fore, & your Respondents therefore apprehend it is but Just & 
Reasonable the same should for the future be by them maintain'd 
if they are Set of from us. 

Your Respondents Pursuant to y*^ Vote Aforesaid, humbly move 
to your Excellency & Hon"^^ That no more of Dunstable be Laid 
to Groton Then Groton have voted of, for one Great Reason that 
Induced Sundry of y" Inhabitants of Groton to come into Said 
Vote was This Namely They owning a very Considerable part of 
the Lands Voted to be set of as afores'' were willing to Condesent 
to y^ Desires of their Neighbours apprehending that a meeting 
House being Erected on or near y^ Groton Lands & a minister set- 



60 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

tied it would Raise their Lands in Valine but should a considerable 
part of Dunstable be set of more then of Groton it must of course 
draw the Meeting House farther from y*" Groton Inhabitants w'''' 
would be very hurtfull both to the people petitioners & those that 
will be Non Resident proprietors if the Township is made. 

Wherefore they pray That Said New Township may be Incorpor- 
ated Agreeable to Groton Vote viz' Made Equally out of both 
Towns «& as in Duty bound Shall Ever pray 

JVJ^^ELL SARTELL 

William Lawrence 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 278, 279.] 

At A Legall town Meeting of the Inhabitants & free holders of 
the town of Groton assembled December yf 24'?" 1739 Voted & 
Chose Cap* William Lawrance Madderator for said meeting &c : 

In Answer to the Petion of Richard Warnor & others Voted 
that the land with the Inhabitance mentioned in said Petion In- 
cluding the Riuer from Dunstable Line to of ford way Called and 
Known by yf Name of Joseph Bloods ford way : be Set of from the 
town of Groton to Joyn with sum of the westerdly Part of the town 
of Dunstable to make a Distinct and Sepprate town Ship Prouided 
that their be no : More taken from Dunstable then from Groton in 
making of Said new town. Also Voted that Nathaniel Sawtell 
Esqf and Cap' William Lawrance be Agiants In the affair or Either 
of them to wait upon the Great and Generial Cort : to Vse their 
Best in Deauer to set off the Land as a foresi so that the one half 
of yf said New town may be made out of Groton and no : more. 

Abstract Examined & Compaird of the town book of Record for 
Groton ? 

Jona! Sheple Town Clark 
Groton Decem'^' 24'!* A : D : 1739 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 281.] 

Province of y^ Mass"^ Bay 

To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esq' Governour &c To The 

Hon"? His Majesty's Councill & House of Representatives in 

Gen" Court Assembled December 1739 

Whereas some few of the Inhabitants of Groton & Dunstable 

have Joyned in their Petition to this Honi Court to be erected with 

Certain Lands into a Township as '^ their Petition entered the 

12'?' Curr. which prayer if granted will very much Effect yf Quiet & 

Interest of the Inhabitants on the northerly part of Groton 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 6l 

Wherefore the Subscribers most Humbly begg leave To Remon- 
strate to y°' Excellency & Hon? the great & Numerous Damages 
that wee and many Others Shall Sustain if their Petition should 
be granted and would Humbly Shew 

That the Contents of Groton is ab' forty Thousand Acres Good 
Land Sufficient & happily Situated for Two Townships, and have 
on or near Two Hundred & Sixty Familys Setled there with Large 
Accomodations for many more 

That the land pray'd for Out of Groton Could it be Spared is in 
a very Incoiiiodious place, & will render a Division of the remain- 
ing part of the town Impracticable &: no ways Shorten the travel of 
the remotest Inhabit"." 

That it will leave the town from the northeast and to the South- 
west end at least fourteen miles and no possibillity for those ends 
to be Accoiuodated at any Other place w^'' will render the Difficul- 
ties we have long Laboured under without Remidy 

That part of the lands Petitioned for (will when This Hon'^ Court 
shall see meet to Divide us) be in & near the Middle of one of yf 
Townships 

And Altho the number of thirteen persons is there Sett forth to 
Petition, it is wrong and Delusive Severall of them gave no Con- 
sent to any Such thing And to compleat their Guile have entered 
the names of four persons who has no Interest in that part of the 
town viz Swallow Tucker Ames & Green 

That there is near Double the number On the Lands Petif^. for 
and Setled amongst them who Declare Against their Proceedings, 
& here Signifie the Same 

That many of us now are at Least Seven miles from Our meeting 
And the Only Encouragement to Settle there was the undeniable 
Accomodations to make An Other town without w'^l' We Should by 
no means have undertaken 

That if this their Pet" Should Succed — Our hopes must Perish 
— thay by no means benifitted — & we put to all the Hardships 
Immaginable. 

That the whole tract of Land thay pray may be Taken Out of 
groton Contains about Six or Seven Thousand Acres, (the Quan- 
tity and Situation may be Seen on yf plan herewith [)] And but Ab' 
four Or five hundred Acres thereof Owned by the Peti? and but very 
Small Improvements On that. Under all w"!' Circumstances wee 
Humbly conceive it unreasonable for them to desire thus to Harrase 
and perplex us. Nor is it by Any means for the Accomodation of 



62 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Dunstable thus to Joyn who have land of their Own Sufficient and 
none to Spare without prejudicing their begun Settlement Where- 
fore we most Humbly pray Y? Excellency & Hon'^ to compassionate 
Our Circumstances and that thay may not be set off and as in Duty 
bound &c 

Benj? Parker John Shattuck 

John Woods Seth Phillips 

Josiah Sartell John Scott 

Samuel Shattuck iu Samuel Wright 

Joseph Spoaldeng Juner Benj? Robines 

James Larwance John Swallow 

Jonathan Shattuck Isaac Woods 

Nathl' Parker William Spoalding 

James Shattuck Enoch larwance 

John Chambrlen • Jonathan Woods 

Jacob Lakin John Blood 

John Cumings Wiliam Cumings 

Thomas Fisk • James Green 

Henery Jefes Nathaniel Lawrence iu 

Isaac Lakin Joseph Blood 

David Shattuck 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 282-2S4.] 

Wee the Sub? InhaR' of y" Town of Dunstable & Resident in that 
part of it Called Nissitisitt Do hereby authorize and Fully Impower 
Abraham Taylor Junl and Peter Pawer to Represent to Gen'.' Court 
our unwillingness that any Part of Dunstable should [be] sett off to 
Groton to make a Township or Parish and to Shew forth our Ear- 
ness Desire that a Township be maide intirely out out [^/V] off Dun- 
stable Land, Extending Six mils North from Groton Line which 
will Bring the[m] on the Line on y" Brake of Land and Just In- 
clude the Present Setlers : or otherwise As y" Hon'.' Commitee Re- 
ported and Agreeable to the tenour thereoff as The Hon'"'' Court 
shall see meet and as in Duty bound &c 

Tho^ Dinsmore, 

(And 20 others.) 
Dunstable Decef y*" 21";' 1739 

These may sertifie to y" Hon'.'' Court that there is Nomber of 
Eleven more y' has not signed this Nor y" Petetion of Richard Wor- 
ner & others, that is now setled and About to setle 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 277.] 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 63 

At a very early period the Nashua River was sometimes 
called the Penacook and at other times the Groton River. In 
Thomas Noyes's survey of the grant of Major Simon Willard's 
farm in the autumn of 1659, the land is described as "lying 
and being for the most part on the east side of Groaten Riuer." 
And, again, at the session beginning on September 6, 1676, 
the approval of the General Court was given to Jonathan Dan- 
forth's survey of lands laid out to William Hauthorne, " lying 
in the wilderness ; on the North of Groaten Riuer at a place 
called by the Indians Wistequassuck," now within the limits 
of Townsend. At a later period it was more frequently re- 
ferred to as the Lancaster River ; but the use of the present 
name, in the preceding papers, is the earliest instance that I 
have found among the Archives. Jonathan Danforth called it 
the Nashua River in his description of the survey of Groton, 
printed on page 14 of this book, and probably, also, in the 
first line of his description of Dunstable, printed on page 17, 
where the word is now almost wholly worn away. It is very 
likely that the river bore different names at different places 
along its course even at the same time. 



II. 

The running of the Provincial line in 1741 cut off a large 
part of Dunstable, and left it on the New Hampshire side of 
the boundary. It separated even the meeting-house and the 
burying-ground from that portion of the town still remaining 
in Massachusetts, and this fact added not a little to the deep 
animosity felt by the inhabitants when the disputed question 
was settled. It is no exaggeration to say that, throughout the 
old township, the feelings and sympathies of the inhabitants 
on both sides of the line were entirely with Massachusetts. A 
short time before this period the town of Nottingham had been 
incorporated by the General Court, and its territory taken 
from Dunstable. It comprised all the lands of that town 
lying on the easterly side of the Merrimack River; and the 



64 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

difficulty of attending public worship led to the division. 
When the Provincial line was established, it affected Notting- 
ham, like many other towns, most unfavorably. It divided its 
territory, and left a tract of land in Massachusetts too small for 
a separate township, but by its associations and traditions be- 
longing to Dunstable. This tract is to-day that part of Tyngs- 
borough lying east of the river. The larger part of the town, 
by the new line, came under the jurisdiction of New Hamp- 
shire ; but, as there was another town of Nottingham in the 
eastern quarter of that Province, the name was subsequently 
changed by an Act of Legislature, on July 5, 1746, to Notting- 
ham West; and still later this was again changed on July i, 
1830, to Hudson. 

The question of a new meeting-house was now agitating the 
inhabitants of Dunstable. Their former building was in an- 
other Province, where different laws prevailed respecting the 
qualifications and settlement of ministers. It was clearly evi- 
dent that another structure must be built, and the customary 
dispute of small communities arose in regard to its site. Some 
persons favored one locality, and others another ; some wanted 
the centre of territory, and others the centre of population. 
Akin to this subject I give the words of the Reverend Joseph 
Emerson, of Pepperell, — as quoted by Mr. Butler, in his His- 
tory of Groton (page 306), — taken from a sermon delivered on 
March 8, 1770, at the dedication of the second meeting-house 
in Pepperell : " It hath been observed that some of the hottest 
contentions in this land hath been about settling of ministers 
and building meeting-houses ; and what is the reason ? The 
devil is a great enemy to settling ministers and building meet- 
ingf-houses ; wherefore he sets on his own children to work 
and make difficulties, and to the utmost of his power stirs up 
the corruptions of the children of God in some way to oppose 
or obstruct so good a work." This explanation was considered 
highly satisfactory, as the hand of the Evil One was always 
seen in such disputes. 

During this period of local excitement an effort was made 
to annex Nottingham to Dunstable, and at the same time 



DUNSTABLE, MOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 65 

Joint Grass to Dunstable, Joint Grass was a district in the 
northeastern part of Groton, settled by a few families, and 
named from a brook running through the neighborhood, which, 
in its turn, was so called from a peculiar kind of grass growing 
on its banks. It is evident from the documents that the ques- 
tions of annexation and the site of the meeting-house were 
closely connected. The petition in favor of annexation was 
granted by the General Court on certain conditions, which 
were not fulfilled, and consequently the attempt fell to the 
ground. Some of the papers relating to it are as follows : 

A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of the most northerly Part of 
the first Parish in Groton, praying that they may be set off from said 
Grotoii to Dunstable, for the Reasons mentioned. 

Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners serve the Towns of Gro- 
ton and Dunstable with Copies of this Petition, that they shew Cause, 
if any they have, on the first Friday of the next Sitting of this Court, 
why the Prayer thereof should not be granted. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 264), INIarch 11, 1746.] 

Francis Foxcroff, Esq ; brought down the Petition of the north- 
erly Part of Groton, as entred the nth of March last, and refer'd. 
Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council May 29th 1747. Read again, 
together with the Answers of the Towns of Groton and Dunstable, 
and Ordered, That jfoseph Wilder and jFohn Quincy, Esqrs ; together 
with such as the honourable House shall join, be a Committee to 
take under Consideration this Petition, together with the other 
Petitions and Papers referring to the Affair within mentioned, and 
report what they judge proper for this Court to do thereon. 

Sent down for Concurrence. 

Read and concur'd, and Major jfones, Mr. Fox, and Col. Gerrish, 
are joined in the Affair. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 11), May 29, 1747.] 

John Hill, Esq ; brought down the Petition of the Inhabitants of 
Groton and Nottingham, with the Report of a Committee of both 
Houses thereon. 

Signed Joseph Wilder, per Order. 

9 



66 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council yioie 5th 1747. The within 
Report was read and accepted, and Ordered, That the Petition of 
yohn Swallow and others, Inhabitants of the northerly Part of Gro- 
ton be so far granted, as that the Petitioners, with their Estates pe- 
tition'd for, be set off from Groton, and annexed to the Town of 
Dunstable, agreable to Groton Town Vote of the i8th of May last; 
and that the Petition of the Inhabitants of Nottingham be granted, 
and that that Part of Nottingham left to the Province, with the In- 
habitants theron, be annexed to said Dunstable, and that they thus 
Incorporated, do Duty and receive Priviledges as other Towns within 
this Province do or by Law ought to enjoy. 

And it is further Ordered, That the House for publick Worship 
be placed two Hundred and forty eight Rods distant from Mr. Johi 
Tyng's North-East Corner, to run from said Corner North fifty two 
Degrees West, or as near that Place as the Land will admit of. 

Sent down for Concurrence. 

Read and concur'd with the Amendment, viz. instead of those 
Words, . . . And it is further Ordered, That the House for publick 
Worship be . . . insert the following Words . . . Provided that with- 
in one Year a House for the publick Worship of GOD be erected, and 

Sent up for Concurrence. 
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 26), June 6, 1747.] 

To his Excellency William Shirley Esquire Captain General and 
Governour in Chief in and over his Majestys Province of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay in New England The Hon^l" the Council and Hon'''^ 
House of Representatives of the said Province in General Court 
Assembled at Boston the 31'.' of May 1749. 

The petition of the Inhabitants of the Town of Dunstable in the 
Province of the Massachusetts Bay 

Most Humbly Shew 

That in the Year 1747, that part of Nottingham which lyes within 
this Government and part of the Town of Groton Called Joint Grass 
preferred two petitions to this Great and Hon'''" Court praying that 
they might be Annexed to the Town of Dunstable which petitions 
Your Excellency and Honours were pleased to Grant upon Condi- 
tions that a meeting house for the Publick Worship of God should 
be built two hundred and forty Eight Rods 52 degf West of the 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 6/ 

North from North East Corner of M' John Tyngs land But the In- 
habitants of the Town Apprehending Your Excellency and Honours 
were not fully Acquainted with the Inconveniencys that would At- 
tend placeing the Meeting House there Soon after Convened in 
Publick Town Meeting Legally Called to Conclude upon a place 
for fixing said Meeting house where it would best Accommodate all 
the Inhabitants at which meeting proposals were made by some of 
the Inhabitants to take the Advice and Assistance of three men of 
other Towns which proposal was Accepted by the Town and they 
Accordingly made Choice of The Hon'"'." James Minot Esq' Maj^ 
Lawrence and M' Brewer and then Adjourned the Meeting. 

That the said Gentlemen mett at the Towns Request and Deter- 
mined upon a place for fixing the said Meeting house which was ap- 
proved of by the Town and they Accordingly Voted to Raise the sum 
of one hundred pounds towards Defreying the Charge of Building 
the said House But Upon Reviewing the Spot pitched upon as afore- 
said many of the Inhabitants Apprehended it was more to the south- 
ward than the Committee Intended it should be And thereupon a 
Meeting was Called on the Twenty Sixth day of May last when the 
Town voted to Build the meeting house on the East side of the 
Road that leads from Cap' Cummings's to M' Simon Tompsons 
where some part of the Timber now lyes being about Forty Rods 
Northward of Isaac Colburns house which they Apprehended to be 
the Spot of Ground the Committee Intended to fix upon. 

And for as much as the place Last Voted by the Town to Build 
their meeting house upon will best Accommodate all the Inhabi- 
tants, 

Your pet" therefore most humbly pray Your Excellency and Hon- 
ours would be pleased to Confirm the said Vote of the Town of the 
26".' day of May last and order the meeting house for the Publick 
Worship of God to be Erected on the peice of Ground aforemen- 
tioned 

And in duty bound they will ever pray &c 

Simon tompson ") Com*" for the 
Eben"^ Parkhurst J Town of Dunstable 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxv. 507, 50S.] 

The Committee appointed on tiie Petition of a Committee for the 
Town of Dunstable^ reported according to Order. 



68 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Read and accepted, and thereupon the following Order pass'd, 
vt'z. In as micch as the House for the pub lick Worship of GOD in 
Dunstable was not erected within the Line limitted in the Order of this 
Court of June 6th 1747, the Inhabitants of Groton and Nottingham 
have lost the Benefit of Incorporation with the Town of Dunstable : 
Therefore 

Voted, That a Meeting House for the publick Worship of GOD 
be erected as soon as may be on the East Side of the Road that 
leads from Capt. Cummins to Simon Thompson's, where the Timber 
for such a House now lies, agreable to a Vote of the said Town of 
Dunstable on the 26th of May last; and that the said Inhabitants 
of Groton and Nottingham be and continue to be set off and annexed 
to the Town of Dunstable, to do Duty and receive Priviledge there, 
their Neglect of Compliance with the said Order of yune 6th 1747, 
notwithstanding, unless the major Part of the Inhabitants and rate- 
able Estate belonging to said Groton and Nottinghajn respectively, 
shall on or before the first Day of September next in writing under 
their Hands, transmit to the Secretary's Office their Desire not to 
continue so incorporated with the town of Dunstable as aforesaid ; 
provided also, That in Case the said Inhabitants of Groton and 
Nottingham shall signify such their Desire in Manner and Time 
as aforesaid, they be nevertheless subjected to pay and discharge 
their Proportion of all Publick Town or Ministerial Rates or Taxes 
hitherto granted or regularly laid on them ; excepting the last Sum 
granted for building a Meeting House. And that the present 
Town Officers stand and execute their Offices respectively until the 
Anniversary Town-Meeting at Dunstable in March next. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 46, 47), June 26, 1749-] 

Whereas the Great & Generall Court of the the \sic'\ Province of 
the Massachusetts Bay in June Last, On the Petitions of Dunstable 
& Nottingham has Ordered that the Inhabitants of Groton and Not- 
tingham, Which by Order of the s? Court the 6* of June 1747 Were 
On Certain Conditions Annexed to s"^ Dunstable & (Which Condi- 
tions not being Complyed with) be Annexed to s? Dunstable to do 
duty & Receive priviledge there their neglect of Complyance not- 
withstanding. Unless the major p;^rt of the Inhabitants and ratable 
Estate belonging to the s5^ Groton & Nottingham respectively Shall 



DUNSTABLE, HOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 69 

on or before the first day of September next in Writing under their 
hands Transmitt to the Secretar3's Office their desire not to Con- 
tinue so Incorporated With the town of Dunstable as afores'' Now 
therefore Wee the Subscribers Inhabitants of Groton & Nottingham 
Sett of as afores'" do hereby Signifie Our desire not to Continue so 
Incorporated with the town of Dunstable as afores'' but to be 
Sett at Liberty As tho that Order of Court had not ben passed 
Dated the 10"' day of July 1749 

Inhabitants of Groton 

Timothy Read Samuel Comings 

Joseph fletcher Benjamin Robbins 

John Swallow Joseph Spalding iuner 

Inhabitants of Nottingham 

Samuell Gould iohn Collans 

Robert Fletcher Zacheus Spaulding 

Joseph perriaham Daken [Deacon?] (And ten others.) 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxv. 515.] 

A manuscript plan of Dunstable, made by Joseph Blanch- 
ard in the autumn of 1748, and accompanying these papers 
among the Archives (cxv. 516), is of considerable interest to 
the local antiquary. 

In the course of a few years most of the Groton signers 
reconsidered the matter, and changed their minds. It ap- 
pears from the following communication that the question 
of the site of the meeting-house had some influence in the 
matter : — 

Groton, May 10, 1753. We have concluded to Joine with Dun- 
stable in settling the gospell and all other affairs hart & hand in 
case Dunstable woud meet us in erecting a meting house in center 
of Lands or center of Travel. 

Joseph Spaulding Jr. 

John Swallow. 

Tlmothv Read. 

Samuel Cumings. 

Joseph Parkhurst. 
[Nason's History of Dunstable, page 85.] 



70 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

The desired result of annexation was now brought about, 
and in this way Joint Grass became a part and parcel of 
Dunstable. The following extracts give further particulars 
in regard to it: — 

A Petition of a Committee in Behalf of the Inhabitants of Dun- 
stable, within this Province, shewing, that that Part of Dunstable by 
the late running of the Line is small, and the Land much broken, 
unable to support the Ministry, and other necessary Charges ; that 
there is a small Part of Groton contiguous, and well situated to be 
united to them in the same Incorporation, lying to the West and 
Northwest of them ; that in the Year 1744, the Inhabitants there 
requested them that they might be incorporated with them, which 
was conceeded to by the Town of Groton; that in Consequence 
of this, upon Application to this Court, they were annexed to the 
Town of Dunstable with the following Proviso, viz. "That within 
one Year from that Time a House for the publick Worship of 
GOD should be erected at a certain Place therein mentioned : " 
Which Place was esteemed by all Parties both in Groton & Not- 
tingham, so incommodious, that it was not complied withal ; that on 
a further Application to this Court to alter the Place, Liberty 
was given to the Inhabitants of Groton and Nottingham, to with- 
draw, whereby they are deprived of that contiguous and necessary 
Assistance which they expected : Now as the Reasons hold good 
in every Respect for their Incorporation with them, they humbly 
pray that the said Inhabitants of Groton by the same Bounds as 
in the former Order stated^ may be reannexed to them, for the 
Reasons mentioned. 

Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners serve the Inhabitants of 

Groton therein refer'd to, as also the Clerk of the Town of Groton, 

with Copies of this Petition, that so the said Inhabitants, as also 

the Town of Groton, shew Cause, if any they have, on the first 

Tuesday of the next May Session, why the Prayer thereof should 

not be granted. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 13S, 139), April 4, 1753.] 

John Hill, Esq ; brought down the Petition of a Committee of 
the Town of Dunstable, as entred the 4th of April last, and re- 
fer'd. Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council June 5th 1753. Read 



DUNSTABLE, MOLLIS, AND NOTTINGHAM. 71 



again, together with the Answer of the Inhabitants of that Part 
of Groton commonly called Joint-Grass, and likewise WiUiain 
Lawrence, Esq ] being heard in Behalf of the Town of Groton, and 
the Matter being fully considered, Ordered, That the Prayer of 
the Petition be so far granted, as that Joseph Fletcher, Joseph 
Spaulding, Samuel Cotnings, Benjamin Robbins, Timothy Read, 
John Swallow, Joseph Parkhurst, and Ebenezer Parkhtirst, Jun. 
with their Families and Estates, and other Lands petitioned for, be 
set off from the Town of Groton, and annexed to the town of Dun- 
stable, agreable to the Vote of the Town of Groton on the i8th of 
May 1747, to receive Priviledge and do Duty there, provided that 
Tiitwthy Read, Constable for the Town of Groton, and Collector of 
the said Parish in said Town the last Year, and Joseph Fletcher, 
Constable for the said Town this present Year, finish their Collec- 
tion of the Taxes committed or to be committed to them respec- 
tively ; and also that the said Inhabitants pay their Proportion of 
the Taxes that are already due or shall be due to the said Town of 
Groton for the present Year, for which they may be taxed by the 
Assessors of Groton, as tho' this Order had not past : provided 
also that the Meeting-House for the publick Worship of GOD 
in Dunstable be erected agreable to the Vote of Dunstable relating 
thereto in May 1753- Sent down for Concurrence. 

Read and concur'd. 
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 21), June 7, 1753]] 

The part of Nottingham mentioned in these petitions was 
not joined to Dunstable until the next year. On June 14, 
1754, an order passed the House of Representatives, annex- 
ing " a very small Part of Nottingham now lying in this 
Province, unable to be made into a District, but very commo- 
dious for Dunstable," — according to the printed Journal; 
and on the same day it received the assent of the Governor 
and Council. 



VI. 

PEPPERELL. 

The west parish of Groton was set off as a precinct on 
November 26, 1742. It comprised that part of the town 
lying on the west side of the Nashua River, north of the 
road from Groton to Townsend. Its incorporation as a 
parish or precinct allowed the inhabitants to manage their 
own ecclesiastical affairs, while in all other matters they 
continued to act with the parent town. Its partial separa- 
tion gave them the benefit of a settled minister in their 
neighborhood, which in those days was considered of great 
importance. 

It is an interesting fact to note that in early times the 
main reason given in the petitions for dividing towns was the 
long distance to the meeting-house, by which the inhabitants 
were prevented from hearing the stated preaching of the 
gospel. 

The petitioners for the change first asked for a township, 
which was not granted ; but subsequently they changed their 
request to a precinct instead, which was duly allowed. The 
papers relating to the matter are as follows : — 

Province of The Massechuetts Bay in New England. 

To His Excellency W'f Shirley, Esqf Goveiner in & over y" 
Same And To The Hon'f his Majestis Council & House of Repre- 
sentetives in Gen" Court Assembled June 1742 : 

The Petition of Sundry Inhabitants & Resendant in tlie North- 
erly Part of Groton Humbly Sheweth that the Town of Groton is 



PEPPERELL. 73 



at Least ten miles in Length North & South & seven miles in 
wedth East & West And that in Runing two miles Due North 
from the Present Meeting House & from thence to Run Due East 
to Dunstable West Line. And from the Ende of the S*^ two miles 
to Run West till it Comes to the Cuntry Rode that is Laide out to 
Townshend & so on S'' Rode till it Comes to Townshend East 
Line then tur[n]ing &: Runing Northly to Nestiquaset Corner 
which is for Groton & Townshend then tur[n]ing «S; Runing 
Easterly on Dunstable South Line & So on Dunstable Line till it 
comes to the Line first mentioned, Which Land Lyeth about Seven 
miles in Length &: four miles & a Quarter in Wedth. 

And Thare is Now Setled in those Lines here after mentioned 
is about the Number of Seventy families all Redy And may 
[many ?] more ready to Settle there and as soon as scet off to the 
Petitioners & those families Settled in y^ Lines afore si Would 
make A Good township & the Remaining Part of Groton Left in a 
regular forme And by reason of the great Distance your Peti- 
tioners are from the Present Meeting House are put to very Great 
Disadvantages in Attending the Public Worship of God many of 
Whom are Oblidged to travel Seven or Eight miles & that the 
Remaining Part of Groton Consisting of such good land & y*" In- 
habitants so Numerous that thay Can by no means be Hurt Should 
your Petitioners & those families Settled in y" Lines afore sf Be 
Erected to a Seprate & Distinct Township ; That the in Contest- 
able situation & accomodation on the sf Lands was y'' one great 
reason of your Petitioners Setling thare & Had Not those Prospects 
been so Clear to us We should by no means have under taken 
The Hardship We have already & must go Throu. 

Wherefore Your Petitioners Would farther Shew that Part of 
y^ Land here Prayed for all Redy Voted of by the S*^ town to be a 
Presinct & that the most of them that are in that Lines have Sub- 
scribed with us to be a Dest[i]ncte Township Wherefore Your 
Petitioners Humbly Pray your Honnors to Grante us our Desire 
according to This our Request as we in Duty Bound Shall Ever 
Pray &c 

Joseph Spaulding iur William Blood 

Zachariah Lawrance Nathaniel Parker 

William Allen Enoch Lawarnce 

Jeremiah Lawrance Samuel Right 



74 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

James larwance Isacc laken 

Josiali Tucker Isacc Williams 

Sam" fisk John Swallow 

Solomon blood Joseph Swallow 

John Woods Benj" Robins 

Josiah Sartell Nathan Fisk 

benj" Swallow John Chamberlin 

Elies EUat Jacob Lakin 

Richard Worner Seth Phillips 

Ebenezer Gillson John Cumings 

Ebenezer Farce Benj" Parker 

James Blood iu Gersham Hobart 

Joseph Spaulding Joseph Lawrance 

Phiniahas Parker iur John Spaulding 

Joseph Warner Isaac Woods 
Phineahas Chambrlin 

In the House of Rep'"" June. lo. 1742 

Read and Ordered that the Pet" serve the Town of Groton with 
a Copy of this Pet" that they shew cause if any they have on the 
first fryday of the next session of this Court why the Prayer thereof 
should not be granted 

Sent up for concurrence 

T Gushing Spkr 



In Council June 15. 1742 ; 
Read & Non Concur'd 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 779, 780.] 



J WiLLARD Secry 



To his Excellency William Shirley Esq' Captain General and 
Governour in Cheiff in and over his Majesties Province of y'r Mas- 
sachusetts Bay in New England : To y? Honourable his Majesties 
Council and House of Representatives in General Court Assembled 
on y^ Twenty sixth Day of May. A: D. 1742. 

The Petition of us the Subscribers to your Excellency and 
Honours Humbley Sheweth that we are Proprietors and Inhabitants 
of yf Land Lying on y^ Westerly Side Lancester River (so called) 
[now known as the Nashua River] in y? North west corner of y? 
Township of Groton : & Such of us as are Inhabitants thereon Live 
very Remote from y^ Publick worship of God in s? Town and at 



PEPPERELL. 



75 



many Times and Season of y^ year are Put to Great Difficulty to 
attend yf same : And the Lands Bounded as Followeth (viz) 
Southerly on Tovvnshend Rode : Westerly on Townshend Line : 
Northerly on Dunstable West Precinct, & old Town : and Easterly 
on said River as it now Runs to y^ First mentioned Bounds, being 
of y^ Contents of about Four Miles Square of Good Land, well 
Scituated for a Precint : And the Town of Groton hath been 
Petitioned to Set of y^ Lands bounded as afores^ to be a Distinct 
and Seperate Precint and at a Town Meeting of y^ Inhabitants of 
s^ Town of Groton Assembled on y^ Twenty Fifth Day of May 
Last Past The Town voted y*" Prayer of y? s? Petition and that 
y': Lands before Described should be a Separate Precinct and that 
yf Inhabitants thereon and Such others as hereafter Shall Settle 
on s^ Lands should have yf Powers and Priviledges that other Pre- 
cincts in s^ Province have or Do Enjoy : as pf a Coppy from 
Groton Town Book herewith Exhibited may Appear &c : For the 
Reasons mentioned we the Subscribers as afores? Humbley Prayes 
your Excellency and Honours to Set off y*" s;' Lands bounded as 
afores? to be a Distinct and Sepperate Precinct and Invest yf In- 
habitants thereon (Containing about y^ N? of Forty Famelies) and 
Such others as Shall hereafter Settle on s'.' Lands with Such 
Powers & Priviledges as other Precincts in s'' Province have &c or 
Grant to your Petitioners Such other Releaf in yf Premises as your 
Excellency and Honours in your Great Wisdom Shall think Fit : 
and your Petitioners as in Duty bound Shall Ever pray &c. 



Benj Swallow 
W" Spalden 
Isaac Williams 
Ebenezer Gilson 
Elias Ellit 
Samuel Shattuck iu 
James Shattuck 
David Shattuck 
David Blood 
Jonathan Woods 
John Blood inner 
Josiah Parker 
Jacob Ames 
Jonas Varnum 



Moses Woods 
Zachery Lawrence Jun'' 
Jeremiah Lawrence 
John Mozier 
Josiah Tucker 
W!" Allen 
John Shadd 
Jam? Green 
John Kemp 
Nehemiah Jewett 
Eleazar Green 
Jonathan Shattuck 
Jor^athan Shattuck Jur^*" 



y^ BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

In the House of Rep''''" Nov' 26. 1742 

In Answer to the within Petition ordered that that Part of the 
Town of Groton Lying on the Westerly Side of Lancaster River 
within the following bounds viz' bounding Easterly on said River 
Southerly on Townsend Road so called Westerly on Townsend line 
and Northerly on Dunstable West Precinct with the Inhabitants 
thereon be and hereby are set off a distinct and seperate precinct 
and Vested with the powers & previledges which other Precincts do 
or by Law ought to enjoy always provided that the Inhabitants 
Dwelling on the Lands abovementioned be subject to pay their Just 
part and proportions of all ministeriall Rates and Taxes in the Town 
of Groton already Granted or Assessed 

Sent up for Concurrence 

T Gushing Spkr 

In Council Nov! 26 1742 Read and Coneurr'd 

J WiLLARD Secry 
Consented to, W Shirley. 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv. 76S, 769.] 

When the Provincial line was run betv^een Massachusetts 
and Nev\r Hampshire, in the spring of 1741, it left a gore of 
land, previously belonging to the west parish of Dunstable, 
lying north of the territory of Groton and contiguous to it. It 
formed a narrow strip, perhaps three hundred rods in width at 
the western end, running easterly for nearly four miles and 
tapering off to a point a short distance west of the Nashua 
River, by which stream it was entirely separated from Dun- 
stable. Shaped like a thin wedge, it lay along the border of 
the Province, and belonged geographically to the west pre- 
cinct or parish of Groton. Under these circumstances the 
west or second parish petitioned the General Court to have 
it annexed to their jurisdiction, which request was granted. 
William Prescott, one of the committee appointed to take 
charge of the matter, nearly a quarter of a century later was 
the commander of the American forces at the Battle of Bun- 
ker Hill. It has been incorrectly stated by writers that this 
triangular parcel of land was the gore ceded, in the summer 



PEPPERELL. 17 



of 1736, to the proprietors of Groton, on the petition of Ben- 
jamin Prescott. The documents relating to this matter are 
as follows : — 

To his Honnor Spencer Phipes Esq"" Cap' Geniorl and Commander 
In Cheaf in and ouer his majists prouince of the Massachusets Bay- 
in New england and to The Hon''.''-' his majestys Councel and House 
of Representatiues In Geniral Courte assambled at Boston The 26 
of December 1751 

The Petition of Peleg Lawrance Jarimah Lawrance and william 
Prescott a Cum"f'' for the Second Parish In Groton in The County of 
Middle sikes 

Humbly Shew That Theare is a strip of Land of about fiue or six 
hundred acors Lys ajoyning To The Town of Groton which be Longs 
To the town of Dunstable the said strip of land Lys near fouer mill 
in Length and bounds on the North Line of the said second Parrish 
in Groton and on the South Side of Newhampsher Line which 
Peeace by Runing the sd Line of Newhampsher was Intierly Cut off 
from the town of Dunstable from Receueing any Priuelidge their for 
it Lys not Less then aboute Eight mill from the Senter of the town 
of Dunstable and but about two mill and a half from the meeting 
house in the said second Parish in Groton so that they that settel 
on the sd Strip of Land may be much beter acommadated to be 
Joyned to ye town of Groton and to the sd second Parish than Euer 
thay Can any other way in this Prouince and the town of Dunstable 
being well sencable thare of haue at thare town meeting on the 19 
Day of December Currant voted of the sd Strip of Land allso James 
Colburn who now Lines on sd Strip Land from the town of Dunsta- 
ble to be annexed to the town of Groton and to the sd second Parish 
in sd town and the second Parish haue aCordingly voted to Recue 
the same all which may appear by the vote of sd Dunstable and 
said Parish which will be of Grate advantige to the owners of the 
sd strip of Land and a benefit to the said second Parish in Groton 
so that your Petitioners Humbly Pray that the sd strip of Land may 
be annexed to the said second Parish in Groton so far as Groton 
Nor west corner to do Duty and Recue Priulidge theare and your 
petionrs In Duty bound shall Euer Pray 

Peleg Lawrence 
Will" Prescott 
Jeremiah Lawrence 



78 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Dunstable December 24 175 1 
this may Certifye the Grate and Genirol Courte that I Liue on 
the slip of Land within mentioned and it tis my Desier that the 
prayer of this Petition be Granted 

James Colburn 

In the House of Rep"''" Jan'>' 4. 1752 
Voted that the prayer of the Petition be so farr granted that the 
said strip of Land prayed for, that is the Jurisdiction of it be An- 
nex'd to the Town of Groton & to y*^ Second Precinct in said Town 
& to doe dutys there & to recieve Priviledges from them. 
Sent up for Concurrence 

T. Hubbard Spkr 

In Council Jan^' 6. 1752 Read & Concur'd 

J WiLLARD Secry, 

Consented to, S Phips 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxvi. 162, 163.] 

At this period the Crown authorities were jealous of the 
growth of the popular party in the House of Representatives, 
and for that reason they frowned on every attempt to increase 
the number of its members. This fact had some connection 
with the tendency, which began to crop out during Governor 
Shirley's administration, to form districts instead of towns, 
thereby withholding their representation. 

The west parish of Groton was made a district on April 12, 
1753, the day the Act was signed by the Governor, which was 
a second step toward its final and complete separation. It 
then took the name of Pepperrell, and was vested with still 
broader political powers. It was so called after Sir William 
Pepperrell, who had successfully commanded the New England 
troops against Louisburg; and the name was suggested, doubt- 
less, by the Reverend Joseph Emerson, the first settled minis- 
ter of the parish. He had accompanied that famous expedition 
in the capacity of chaplain, only the year before he had re- 
ceived a call for his settlement, and his associations with the 
commander were fresh in his memory. It will be noticed that 
the Act for incorporating the district leaves the name blank, 



PEPPERELL. 79 

which was customary in this kind of legislation at that period ; 
and the Governor, perhaps with the advice of his Council, was 
in the habit subsequently of filling out the name. 

Pepperell — for one " r " has been dropped from the name ^ — 
had now all the privileges of a town, except the right to choose 
a representative to the General Court, and this political con- 
nection with Groton was kept up until the beginning of the 
Revolution, In the session of the General Court which met 
at Watertown on July 19, 1775, Pepperell was represented by 
a member, and in this way acquired the privileges of a town 
without any special act of incorporation. Other similar dis- 
tricts were likewise represented, in accordance with the pre- 
cept calling that body together, and thus they obtained 
municipal rights without the usual formality. The precedent 
seems to have been set by the First Provincial Congress 
of Massachusetts, which met in the autumn of 1774, and was 
made up of delegates from the districts as well as from the 
towns. It was a revolutionary step taken outside of the law. 
On March 23, 1786, this anomalous condition of affairs was 
settled by an Act of the Legislature, which declared all dis- 
tricts incorporated before January i, 1777, to be towns for all 
intents and purposes. 

The Act for the incorporation of the district of Pepperell is 
as follows : — 

Anno Regni Regis Georgij Secundi vicesimo Sexto 

An Act for Erecting the second Precinct in the Town of Groton 
into a separate District 

Be it enacted by the Leiu' Gov[ Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives 

That the second Precinct in Groton bounding Southerly on the 
old Country Road leading to Townshend, Westerly on Townshend 
Line Northerly on the Line last run by the Governm^ of New Hamp- 
shire as the Boundary betwixt that Province and this Easterly to the 

1 It was near the end of the last century that the practice began of writing 
the name of the town with one " r," though it was many years before the custom 
became general. 



8o BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

middle of the River, called Lancaster [Nashua] River, from where 
the said Boundary Line crosses said River, so up the middle of y? 
said River to where the Bridge did stand, called Kemps Bridge, to 
the Road first mentioned, be & hereby is erected into a seperate Dis- 
trict by the Name of and that the said District be 
and hereby is invested with all the Priviledges Powers and Immu- 
nities that Towns in this Province by Law do or may enjoy, that of 
sending a Representative to the generall Assembly only excepted, 
and that the Inhabitants of said District shall have full power & 
Right from Time to time to joyn with the sf Town of Groton in the 
choice of Representative or Representatives, in which Choice they 
shall enjoy all the Priviledges which by Law they would have been 
entitled to, if this Act had not been made. And that the said Dis- 
trict shall from Time to time pay their proportionable part of the 
Expence of such Representative or Representatives According to 
their respective proportions of y": Province Tax. 

And that the s*^ Town of Groton as often as they shall call a 
Meeting for the Choice of a Representative shall give seasonable 
Notice to the Clerk of said District for the Time being, of the Time 
and place of holding such Meeting, to the End that aid Districts 
may join them therein, and the Clerk of said District shall set up in 
some publick place in s"? District a Notification thereof accordingly 
or otherwise give Seasonable Notice, as the District shall determine. 

Provided Nevertheless and be it further enacted That the said 
District shall pay their proportion : of all Town County and Prov- 
ince Taxes already set on or granted to be raised by s"? Town as if 
this Act had not been made, and also be at one half the charge in 
building and repairing the Two Bridges on Lancaster River afore- 
said in sf District. 

Provided also and be it further Enacted That no poor Persons 
residing in said District and Who have been Warn'd by the Select- 
men of said Groton to depart s? Town shall be understood as hereby 
exempted from any Process they would have been exposed to if this 
Act had not been made. 

And be it further enacted that W™ Lawrence^ Esq' Be and here- 
by is impowered to issue his Warrant directed to some principal 
Inhabitant in s'! District requiring him to notify the Inhabitants of 
said District to meet at such Time & place as he shall appoint to 

1 This name apparently inserted after the original draft was made. 



PEPPERELL. 



choose all such Officers as by Law they are Impowered to Choose 
for conducting the Affairs of s"! District. 

In the House of Rep''"" April 5, 1753 

Read three several times and pass'd to be Engross'd, 

Sent up for Concurrence 

T. HuBDARD Spk; 

In Council April 5 1753 AM 

Read a first and Second Time and pass'd a Concurrence 

Thov^ Clarke Dp'f Secfy 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxvi. 360-362.] 



VII. 

SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 

About this time it was proposed to form a new township 
from Groton, Lancaster, and Harvard, including a small parcel 
of land known as Stow Leg, a strip of territory perhaps two 
hundred rods in width and two miles in length, lying west of 
the Nashua River. This "Leg" had belonged originally to 
Stow, but had become wholly detached from that town by the 
incorporation of Harvard. The proposed township covered 
nearly the same territory as that now occupied by Shirley. 
The attempt, however, does not appear to have been success- 
ful. The following covenant, signed by certain inhabitants of 
the towns interested in the movement, is on file, and with 
it a rough plan of the neighborhood ; but I find no other 
allusion to the matter either in petitions or records : — 

We the Subscribers being Inhabitants of the Extream Parts 
of Groton Lancaster and Harvard as allso the Proprietors of the 
Land belonging to the Town of Stow (which Land is Scituate Lying 
and being Betwen the Towns above said Namely Groton Lancaster 
and Harvard) Do Covenant and Promise to and with Each other 
And We Do Hereby of our own Free Will and Motion In the 
Exercise of Love and Charity Towards one another with Mutual 
Consent in the strongest Manner Binding our Selves the Subscrib- 
ers each and every of us Conjointly one to another (for the Gosples 
Sake) Firmly Covenantng and Promising to and with Each other 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 83 

that we will as Speedely as may be with Conveniency Petition the 
Several Towns to which we Respectively belong and Likewise the 
Great and General Court That we may be Erected or Incorporated 
into a Destinct and seperate Township of our Selves with those 
Lands within the Bounds and Limits Here after Discribed viz 
Beginning at the River called Lancaster [Nashua] River at the 
turning of Sd River Below the Brige called John Whits Brige & 
Runing Northerly to Hell Pond and on Still to the Line Betwixt 
Harvard and Groton Including John Farwell then to Coyecus 
Brook Leaveing the Mills and Down Said Brook to the River and 
down Said River to the Rye ford way then Runing Westerly to 
the Northerly End of Horse Pond & so on to Luningburg Line 
Including Robert Henry & Daniel Page and then Runing South- 
erly Extendig Beyound Luningburg So far Into Lancaster as that 
Running Easterly the Place on which Relph Kindal formerly Lived 
Shall be Included and so on Running Easterly to the Turn in the 
River first mentioned 

Moreover we Do Covenant Promise and Engage Truly and 
Faithfuly that we will Consent to and Justifie any Petition that Shall 
be Prefered in our names and behalf to our Respective Towns and 
to the Great & General Court for the Ends and Purposes above 
Mentioned 

Furthermore we Do Covenant Promise and Engage as above 
that we will advance money for and Pay all Such Reasonable and 
necessary Charges that may arise in the Prosecuting and Obtaining 
our Said Petitions and that we will Each and Every of us Respec- 
tively Endever to Promote and Maintain Peace Unity Concord and 
Good Agreement amoungst our Selves as Becometh Christians 

And now haveing thus Covenanted as above Said We Do Each 
and Every one of us who have Hereunto Subscribed Protest and 
Declare that Every Article and Parigraph and Thing Containd in 
the above Writen Shall be Absolutely and Unacceptionably Bind- 
ing in Manner and form as above Declared and Shall So Continue 
upon and Against Each and Every one of us untill we are Erected 
or Incorporated Into a Township as above said or that Provedance 
Shall Remove us by Death or Otherways any thing to the Conterary 
Notwithstanding 

Witness our Hands the Eighth Day of December one Thousand 
Seven Hundred and Fourty Seven and in the Twentieth Year Of 
His Majesties Reign Georg the Secund King &c 



84 



BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 



Harvard 



Richard hall 
Jon" Bigelow 
Joseph Hutchins 
Simeon Farnworth 
Timothy hall 
Phenihas Farnsworth 

Samuel Hazen 
Joseph Preist 
Samll flood 
John pearce 
Charles Richards 
Daniel Page 



Henry Haskell 
John Nicholls 
Thomas Wright 
William Willard 
Joshua Johnson 
Daniel Willard 
Joseph Priest 



Groton 



Lancaster 



Amos Russll 

His 

Johnathan — Read 

mark 

Jonathan Read iu 
Abijah Willard 



John Longley jn"^ 
Abijah Willard 
Manasser Divoll 
John Osgood 
Abijah Frost 
John Peirce hous rite 



William Farmer 
Joseph Bond 
Henry Willard 
Benjamin Willard 
Jacob Houghton 
Corp Elias Sawyer 

his 

Amos Am Atherton 



Stow 
John Houghton Ju 
John Sampson 
Joseph Brown 

[Massachusetts Archives, cxv. 220-222.] 



Hannah Brown 
Samuel Randal 
Benjamin Samson 



Hell Pond, mentioned in this covenant, is situated in the 
northwest part of Harvard, and so called " from its amazing 
depth," says the Reverend Peter Whitney, in the History of 
Worcester County (page 158). 

The following petition refers to an unsuccessful attempt 
made during this period to form a second precinct within the 
township. The petitioners lived in that part of Groton which 
afterward became the district of Shirley : — 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 



85 



To the Inhabitants of the Town of Groton assembled in Town 
meeting on the first Day of March 1747 

The petition of us the Subscribers being all Inhabitants of the 
Town of Groton a fore sd humbly Shueth that your petitioners all 
Live in the Extreem parts of the Town and by that means we are 
Incapacatated to attend the publick worship constantly Either our 
selves or famelies and and [sk] being Sensable that our being set 
off in order for a presinct will be of Great Seruis to us we Desire 
that we may be set of by the bounds following Viz begining at the 
mouth of Squa[n]ikook Riuer and so Run vp sd Riuer till it Comes 
to Townshend Line and then by Townshend and Lunenburgh Lines 
till it Cometh to Groton South west Corner and so by the South 
Line of Said Town vntill It Cometh to Lancaster [Nashua] Riuer 
and then Down sd Riuer till it conieth to haruard Cornor and Then 
about a mile on haruard North Line then Turn North and Run to 
the wast brook in Coicors [Nonacoicus] farm whear peeple Generally 
pass ouer and from thence to The mouth of Squanikook Riuer whear 
we first began and your petetioners as bound in Duty Shall Ever 
pray &c 

January th 26 1747 



John Whitney 
John Williams 
Dauid Gould 
John Kelcey 
Phinehas burt 
Joseph Wilson 
Tho' Laughton 
James Pattorson 
Jonathan Gould 
Robert henry 
John Williams Jr 
William farneth 
Jonas Longley 
Aimer farwell 
Isaac holdin 
Jerathmel power 
Philemon holdin 
Stephen holdin Ju 



William Simonds 
William Preston 
William Williams 
henery farwell 
Josiah farwell 

his 

John z Russell 

mark 

James Park 

his 

Jacob X Williams 

niarl< 
his 

Danell x Page 

mark 
his 

Joseph X Dodge 

mark 

moses bennett Jun 
Caleb bartlit 
Francis harris 
Caleb holdin 
hezekiah Sawtell Jr 



86 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 



The aboue petetion being Red at the annauarsory meeting in 

Groton on march th i 1747 and the prayer thear of Granted Except 

the Land on the Easterly Side Lancaster Riuer 

and Recorded f 

Tho^ Tarbell 

Town Clerk 
[Town Records, iv. 57.] 

A year or two later another attempt was made to divide 
the town, but it did not succeed. The lines of the proposed 
township included nearly the same territory as the present 
ones of Shirley. The following references to the scheme are 
found, under their respective dates, in the Journal of the 
House of Representatives : — 

A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of Groton and Lunenburg, pray- 
ing they may be erected into a distinct and seperate Township or 
Precinct, agreable to the Plan therewith exhibited, for the Reasons 
mentioned. 

Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners serve the Town of Lunen- 
burg, and the first Parish in Groton, with Copies of this Petition, that 
they shew Cause, if any they have, on the 29th of December next, if 
the Court be then Sitting, if not on the first Friday of the next Sit- 
ting of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 100), November 30, 1749.] 

Samuel Watts, Esq ; brought down the Petition of sundry Inhab- 
itants oi Lunenburg and Groton, as entred the 30th oi November last, 
and refer'd. Pass'd in Council, 77>. In Council Decejnber 29th 1749. 
Read again, with the Answer of the Town of Lunetiburg, and Or- 
dered, That the Consideration of this Petition be refer'd to the 
second Wednesday of the next Sitting of this Court. Sent down for 
Concurrence. 

With a Petition from sundry Inhabitants of Lunenburg, praying 
to be set off from said Town of Leofninster. Pass'd in Council, viz 
In Council December 29th 1749. Read and Ordered, That the Peti- 
tioners serve the Town of Liinenburg, with a Copy of this Petition, 
that they shew Cause, if any they have, on the second Wednesday 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 87 

of the next Sitting of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not 
be granted. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 142), December 29, 1749.] 

jfolm Chandler, Esq; brought down the Petitions of yohn Whit- 
ney, and others of the westerly Part of Groton, and the easterly Part 
of the Town of Lunctiburgh, and Edward Harhvell, Esq ; and others 
of said Town, Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council April 4th 1750. 
Ordered, That Samuel Watts, jFames Alifiot, and ^ohfi Otis, Esqrs ; 
with such as the honourable House shall join, be a Committee to 
consider the Petitions above-mentioned, and the several Answers 
thereto, hear the Parties, and report what they judge proper for the 
Court to do thereon. 

Sent down for Concurrence. 

Read and concur'd, and Mr. Rice, Capt. Livermore, Col. Richards, 
and Mr. Daniel Pierce, are joined in the Affair. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 214), April 5, 1750.] 

Joseph Wilder, Esq., brought down the Report of a Committee 
of both Houses, on the Petition of jfohfi Whitney, and others, as 
entred the 3o'^''' of November last, and refer'd. Signed James Minott, 
per Order. 

Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council jfune 21, 1750. Read and 
Voted, That this Report be not accepted, and that the Petition of 
John Whitney and others therein refer'd to, be accordingly dismiss'd, 
and that the Petitioners pay the Charge of the Committee. 

Sent down for Concurrence. Read and concur'd. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 41), June 22, 1750.] 

A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of the westerly Part of Groton, 
and the easterly Part of Luncnhirg, praying that their Memorial and 
Report thereon, which was dismiss'd the 22^^ of yunc last, may be 
revived and reconsidered, for the Reasons mentioned. 

Read and Ordered, That Mr. Turner, Mr. Tyng, and Major Jones 
with such as the honourable Board shall join, be a Committee to 
take this Petition under Consideration, and report what they judge 
proper to be done thereon. Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 76, 77), October 3, 1750.] 



88 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

y^o/m Greetilcafe, Esq. ; brought down the Petition of sundry In- 
habitants of Groton and Ltmetiburg, as entred the 3d Currant, and 
referr'd. Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council October 3d 1750. 
Read and nonconcur'd, and Ordered, That this Petition be dismiss'd. 

Sent down for Concurrence. 

Read and nonconcur'd, and Ordered, That the Petitioner serve 
the Town of Lunenburg with a Copy of this Petition, that they shew 
Cause, if any they have, on the second Wednesday of the next Sit- 
ting of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 93), October 9, 1750.] 

A Memorial of yohn Whitney and others of the Southwesterly 
Part of Grotofi, praying that their Petition exhibited in November 
1749, may be revived, and the Papers prefer'd at that Time again 
considered, for the Reasons mentioned. 

Read and Ordered, That the Petition lie on the Table. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 64), October 9, 1751.] 

Ordered, That the Petition of John Whitney and others of the 
Southwesterly Part of Groton, lie upon the Table. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 81), January 3, 1752.] 

The Memorial of yohn Whitney and others, as entred October 9th 
1 75 1, Inhabitants of the Southwesterly Part of Groton and the East- 
wardly Part of Lunenberg, setting forth that in November 1749, they 
preferred a Petition to this Court, praying to be set off from the 
Towns to which they belong, and made into a distant [distinct?] 
and seperate Town and Parish, for the Reasons therein mentioned ; 
praying that the aforesaid Memorial and Petition, with the Report 
of the said Committee thereon, and all the Papers thereto belonging, 
may be revived, and again taken into consideration. 

Read again, and the Question was put. Whether the Prayer of the 
Petition should be so far granted, as that the petition and Papers accom- 
panying it should be revived ? It pass'd in the Negative. 

And Voted, That the Memorial be dismiss'd. 

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 92), January 9, 1752.] 

The discussion in regard to the division of the town resulted 
in setting off the district of Shirley, on January 5, 1753, three 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 89 

months before the district of Pepperell was formed. In the 
Act of Incorporation the name was left blank, — as it was pre- 
viously in the case of Harvard, and soon afterward in that of 
Pepperell, — and " Shirley " was filled in at the time of its en- 
grossment. It was so named after William Shirley, the Gov- 
ernor of the Province at that period. It never was incorporated 
specifically as a town, but became one by a general Act of the 
Legislature, passed on March 23, 1786. It was represented, 
while a district, in the session of the General Court which met 
at Watertown on July 19, 1775, as well as in the First Pro- 
vincial Congress of Massachusetts, and thus tacitly acquired 
the powers and privileges of a town, which were afterward 
confirmed by the Act just mentioned. 

The enactment for establishing the district of Shirley is as 
follows : — 

Anno Regni Regis Georgii Secundi Vicesimo Sexto. 

An Act for dividing the Town of Groton and making a District 
by the Name of 

Whereas the Inhabitants of the Southwestwardly part of the 
Town of Groton by Reason of the Difficulties they labour under 
being remote from the place of the publick worship of God have ad- 
dressed this Court to be Sett off a Separate District whereunto the 
Inhabitants of Said Town have Manifested their Consent 

Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant Governour Council and 
House of Representatives that the Southwestwardly part of the 
Town of Groton Comprehended within the following boundaries viz 
begining at the the [sic\ mouth of Squanacook River where it runs 
into Lancaster [Nashua] River from thence up Said Lancaster River 
till it Comes to Land belonging to the Township of Stow thence 
Westwardly bounding Southwardly to said Stow Land till it comes 
to the Southwest Corner of the Township of Groton thence North- 
wardly bounding westwardly to Luningburgh and Townsend to 
Squanacook River afores'' thence down said River and Joyning 

thereto to the mouth thereof being the first bound Be and 

hereby is Sett off from the said Town of Groton and Erected into a 
Separate and Distinct District by the name of and 

that the Inhabitants thereof be and hereby are Vested with all the 
powers priviledges and Immunities which the Inhabitants of any 



90 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

Town within this Province do or by law ought to Enjoy Excepting 
only the Priviledge of choosing a Representative to represent them 
in the Great & General Court, in choosing of whom the Inhabitants 
of Said District Shall Joyn with the Inhabitants of the Town of Gro- 
ton, as heretofore has been Usual, & also in paying said Represen- 
tative 

Provided nevertheless the Said District Shall pay their propor- 
tionable part of all such Town County Parish and Province Charges 
as are already Assessed upon the Town of Groton in like manner 
as though this Act had never been made. 

And Be it further Enacted that M' ]rf. Whitney be and hereby is 
impowred to Issue his Warrant directed to Some principal Inhab- 
itant in s'' District requireing Him to Notifie & warn the Inhabitants 
of s'! District qualified by law to vote in Town affairs to meet at 
Such Time & place as shall be therein Set forth to Choose all such 
ofiicers as Shall be Necessary to manage the affairs of s"" District 
In the House of Rep""^^ June 4, 1752 
Read three several times and pass'd to be Engross'd 
Sent up for concurrence T. Hubbard Spk' 

In Council Nov' 28, 1752 Read a first Time 29 a second Time 
and pass'd a Concurrence 

Tho^ Clarke Dp'^ Secry. 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxvi. 293, 294.] 

This Act did not take effect until January 5, 1753, when it 
was signed by the Governor. 

By an Act of the General Court, passed February 25, 1793, 
a large parcel of territory was taken from Groton and annexed 
to Dunstable. This change produced a very irregular boun- 
dary between the two towns, and made, according to Butler's 
History of Groton (page 66), more than eighty angles in the 
line, causing much inconvenience. The following copy from 
the " Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts " gives the 
names of the families thus transferred : — 

An Act to set off Calelf Woods, and others, from Groton, and to 
annex them to Dwistable. 

IDE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General 
-^ Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. That Caleb 

Woods, Silas Blood, Amaziah Swallow, Nathaniel Cummings, Eben- 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 91 

czer Procter, Silas Blood, jun. Silas Marshall, Levi Parker, Amos 
Woods, Isaac Lawrence, Peter Blood, Caleb Blood, jun. Henry Bloody 
Caleb Woods, jun. and Silas Marshall, jun. together with their fami- 
nes and estates, and also the estates of Doctor Jonas Marshall, the 
heirs of Captain Soloi7ion Woods, deceased, and jFoscph Parkhurst, 
which they now own in said Groton, be, and they are hereby set off 
from the town of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, and annexed 
to Djinstable, in said county, and shall hereafter be considered a 
part of the same, there to do duty and receive privileges, as the 
other inhabitants of said Dtmstable. Provided tievertheless. That the 
persons above-mentioned shall pay all taxes that have been legally 
assessed on them by said Groton, in the same manner as if this Act 
had never been passed. 

[This Act passed February 25, 1793.] 

The zigzag line caused by this Act was somewhat modified 
by the two following ones, passed at different times a few 
years later. I think that the very irregular boundary between 
the two towns, with its eighty-six angles, as mentioned by 
Mr. Butler, was produced by the subsequent annexations to 
Dunstable. 

An Act to set of Nathaniel Lawrence with his Estate, from the Town 
of Groton, and annex them to the Town of Dunstable. 

JDP it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General 
-*-^ Court assembled^ and by the authority of the same, That Nathaniel 
Lawrence of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, together with his 
estate, which he now owns in that town, be, and hereby is set off 
from said town of Groton, and annexed to the town of Dunstable, 
in the same county ; and shall hereafter be considered as part of 
the same ; there to do duty and receive privileges as other inhab- 
itants of said town of Dunstable : Provided nevertheless. That the 
said Nathaniel Lawrence shall be holden to pay all taxes that have 
been legally assessed on him by said town of Groton, in the same 
manner as if this Act had not been passed. 

[This Act passed jfanuary 26, 1796.] 



92 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

An act to set off Willard Robbins with his estate from the town of 
Groton, in the county of Middlesex, and to annex the same to the 
town of Dunstable, in the same county. 

Sec. I . TI}^ i^ e7iacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, 
-^-^ in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
the same, That Willard Robbins, of Groton, in the county of Mid- 
dlesex, with his estate, be, and hereby is set off from said town 
of Groton, and annexed to the town of Dunstable, in said county, 
there to do duty and receive privileges in the same manner as other 
inhabitants of the said town of Dunstable. 

Sec, 2. And be it further enacted, That the said Willard Robbins 
shall be holden to pay and discharge all legal assessments and 
taxes, that have been assessed upon him by said town of Groton 
prior to the passing this act. 

[This act passed jfune i8, 1803.] 

The boundary between the tviro tov^^ns now remained un- 
changed until February 15, 1820, when another Act was 
passed by the Legislature making a further surrender of ter- 
ritory. It took a considerable parcel of land and gave it to 
Dunstable, thereby straightening and simplifying the juris- 
dictional line, which at this time formed but five angles. By 
these several annexations from Groton, the township of Dun- 
stable has acquired more than one half of its present territory. 

In the autumn of 1794 a plan of Groton, Pepperell, and 
Shirley was made by Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., which gives a 
few interesting facts. The following notes are taken from 
the copy now in the office of the Secretary of State, of which 
there is a duplicate in the possession of the town. It will be 
seen that Dr. Prescott refers to the land set o£E by the Act of 
February 25, 1793 : — 

This Plan contains the Bounds of three Towns, viz. Groton, Pep- 
perrell & Shirley, — all which, together with whatsoever is delineated 
on said Plan, was taken by an actual Survey, agreeably to a resolve 
of the General Court, passed June 26, 1794, & under the Inspection 
of the Selectmen & Committee's from the respective towns, ap- 
pointed for that purpose in the month of Sept' 1794. 

By Oliver Prescott, Ju' Surveyor. 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 93 

The reputed distance of Groton from Cambridge [the shire-town] 
is Thirty two Miles, & from Boston Thirty five miles ; The River 
Nashua is from 8 to 10 rods in width. The River Squannacoock 
4 or 5 rods in width. In Groton are twenty natural Ponds, six of 
which are delineated on the Plan, by actual Survey. Several of the 
other Ponds are in size, nearly equal to those on the plan, & may 
in the whole contain about two Thousand Acres. There are no 
Mines in said Town, except one of Iron Ore, nearly exhausted. 
Every other Matter directed to be delineated, described or speci- 
fyed, may be found on the Plan. 

Sam^^ Lawrence ^ 

Zach" Fitch V- Committee. 

Oliver Prescott Ju' ) 

The reputed distance of Pepperrell from Cambridge is thirty 
seven miles ; from Boston forty Miles. 

The River Nissitisset is about four Rods in width. 

The reputed distance of Shirley from Cambridge is thirty five 
Miles ; & from Boston thirty Eight Miles. 

Catacoonamug & Mulpus Brook's are from one to two Rods in 
width. The Plan contains every thing relative' to the two last men- 
tioned Towns necessary to be described. 

Oliver Prescott, Ju' 

What is enclosed in this Blue line, contains about the quantity of 
Land set off from Groton to Dunstable, by Act of the General 
Court, passed February 25, 1793. As by said Act, the petitioners 
and their Farms were set off, without specifying particular bounds, 
Accuracy cannot be obtained, with respect to this Line, without very 
great expence and Trouble. 

At the time Prescott's plan was made, a narrow strip of 
territory of unequal width, lying between Groton and Tyngs- 
borough, was the subject of some controversy. The parcel of 
land contained not more than fifteen or twenty acres, and was 
claimed by both towns. On the plan it is enclosed by itself, 
and marked " Disputed Line." The question remained open 
during some years ; and in the warrant for the town-meeting 
in May, 1801, the following article was inserted, which seems 
to have covered the matter in dispute : — 



94 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

To choose a Committee, and give them ample power to settle and 
agree with the Towns of Tingsborough and Dunstable upon such 
regular & lasting meets and bounds as may prevent future misun- 
derstanding respecting jurisdiction, and not interfere with, or weaken 
any proprietary or individual claim upon the soil, or any part thereof: 
or act on this article as the Town may think proper. 

At the May meeting this article was considered, and a com- 
mittee appointed, consisting of Oliver Prescott, Jr., Esq., 
Honorable Timothy Bigelow, and James Brazer, Esq. They 
appear to have acted with a similar committee on the part of 
the town of Tyngsborough, and made a joint report, bearing 
date October 21, 1801, which was accepted by the town of 
Groton on March 2, 1802. 

The following extract is taken from it : — 

Accordingly on the twenty-ninth day of September last, pursuant 
to due notice and previous agreement we did run, perambulate and 
renew said dividing line between said towns of Groton and Tings- 
borough and agreed the regular and lasting meets and bounds on 
said line hereafter described, viz., beginning at a pillar of Stones, 
the antient corner of Groton, Dunstable and Westford thence the 
line runs northerly about four hundred and fifty rods to a stake and 
stones on the easterly side of a place called dead hole, thence about 
one hundred and four rods to the mouth of Cow pond brook where 
it now empties into Massabog pond at a stake and stones, thence 
to the nearest corner of Dunstable and Tingsborough, the above 
line is the whole extent where said Towns adjoin each other. 

Oliver Prescott Juf ^ Committee 
Timothy Bigelow > of 

James Brazer ) Groton. 

Jon"^ Bancroft ^ Committee 

JOSIAH DaNFORTH > of 



[Town Records, v. 516.] 



John Woodward ) Tingsborough. 



It seems probable that a very small parcel of territory be- 
longing to the original Groton Plantation was in this way 
acquired by Tyngsborough ; but how much, it is not easy to 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 95 

say. Danforth's survey was not sufficiently exact to make its 
courses and directions agree with the present boundaries of 
the neighboring towns. 

By an Act passed February 6, 1798, a considerable portion 
of territory lying on the easterly side of the Nashua River, in 
the southwest corner of Groton, was annexed to Shirley. 
This tract continued to form a part of Shirley until the incor- 
poration of Ayer, on February 14, 1871, when its political 
condition was again changed, and its government transferred 
to the new town. The Act authorizing the annexation is as 
follows, — and I give it entire in order to show the loose way 
of describing boundary lines during the latter part of the last 
century : — 

An Act to set off certain Lands from the town of Groton, and annex 
the same to the town of Shirley. 

Sect. i. D^ ^t enacted by the Senate and House of Reprcsenta- 
-*--^ fives, in General Court assembled, and by the author- 
ity of the same, That a tract of Land at the south western extremity 
of the town of Groton, bounded by a line beginning at a large white 
oak stump, on the southeast side of Nashua River, being the north- 
west corner of the town of Harvard; thence running southeasterly 
on Harvard line, as the town bounds direct, till it comes to the 
stump of a pine tree lately fallen down, an antient bound mark in 
said town line ; thence northerly to a heap of stones by the road 
leading to Harvard at Simon Daby's southerly corner, thence north- 
easterly on said Simon Daby's line to a pine tree marked, thence 
northerly to a heap of stones on a ledge of rocks ; thence northerly 
on said Simon Daby's line to a heap of stones on a large rock ; 
thence northwesterly still on said Simon Daby's line to a stake and 
stones in the roots of a pine tree, fallen down, in a valley, said 
Simon Daby's northeast corner and Samuel Chase's southerly cor- 
ner, thence northerly on said Samuel Chase's line, to the road 
leading to Abil Morse's mill, at a heap of stones on the north east- 
erly side of said road, thence northeasterly on said Samuel Chase's 
line by said road to a heap of stones, thence northeasterly on said 
Chase's line, to a stake and stones at the end of a ditch at a 
brook ; thence down said brook to Nashua River, thence up said 



96 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

river, to the bounds first mentioned, togetlier with the inhabitants 
thereof, be, and they are hereby set off from the town of Grotofi 
and annexed to the town of Shirley, there to do duty and receive 
privileges in the same manner as otlier lands and inhabitants of the 
said town of Shirley. 

Sect. 2. Provided nevertheless, and be it further ejiacted, That the 
said tract of land and the inhabitants thereof shall be liable to be 
taxed by the town of Groton, their full proportion in a tax to the 
amount of theMebts now due from said town of Groton, in the same 
manner as if this act had not been passed : Provided such tax be 
made and assessed within one year from the time of passing this 
act ; and shall also be liable to pay their proportion of all state 
taxes that may be assessed on the town of Groton until a new valu- 
ation be taken. 

[This Act passed February 6, 1 798.] 

All the changes of territorial jurisdiction thus far noted 
have been in one direction, — from Groton to the surrounding 
towns ; but now the tide turns, and for a wonder she receives, 
by legislative enactment, on February 3, 1803, a small parcel 
of land just large enough for a potato-patch. The annexation 
came from Pepperell, and the amount received was four acres 
and twenty rods in extent. The following is a copy : — 

An act to set off a certain parcel of land from the town of Pepperell, 
in the county of Middlesex, and to annex the same to the town of 
Groton, in the same county. 

JI)E it enacted by the Senate and Ho7i.se of Representatives, in General 
-'—^ Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. That a certain 
tract of land, bounded, beginning at the end of a wall by the road 
leading by Zachariah Fitch's, in said Groton; thence running east- 
erly, by land of Jonas Fitch, to the Nashua River, (so called;) 
thence up said river to said road, near the bridge over the same 
river ; thence, bounding by the same road, to the bounds first men- 
tioned, containing four acres and twenty rods, be, and hereby is set 
off from said town of Pepperell and annexed to said town of Groton 
forever. 

[This act passed Feb. 3, 1803.] 



SHIRLEY, TYNGSBOROUGH, AND AYER. 97 

The Worcester and Nashua Railroad was first opened for 
regular business through the township of Groton on December 
1 8, 1848. It ran at that time a distance of eight miles through 
its territory, keeping on the east side of the Nashua River, 
which for a considerable part of the way was the dividing line 
between Groton and Pepperell. The railroad station for the 
people of Pepperell was on the Groton side of the river, and 
in the course of a few years a village sprang up in the 
neighborhood. All the interests and sympathies of this little 
settlement were with Pepperell ; and under these circum- 
stances the Legislature, on May 18, 1857, passed an Act of 
annexation, by which it became in reality what it was in sen- 
timent, — a part and parcel of that town. The first section of 
the Act is as follows : — 



An act to set off a part of the Town of Groton, and annex the same 
to the Town of Pepperell. 

Be it enacted, ^'c, as follozus : 

Section i. All that part of the town of Groton, in the county of 
Middlesex, with the inhabitants thereon, lying north of the following 
described line, is hereby set off from the town of Groton, and an- 
nexed to the town of Pepperell, to wit: Beginning at the boundary 
between said town of Groton and the town of Dunstable, at a stone 
monument in the wall on land of Elbridge Chapman and land of 
Joseph Sanderson, and running south, eighty-six degrees west, about 
six hundred and sixty rods, to a stone monument at the corner of 
land called the "Job Shattuck Farm," and land of James Hobart, 
near the Nashua River and Worcester and Nashua Railroad ; thence 
in same line to the centre of Nashua River and the boundary of 
said town of Pepperell : provided, however, that for the purpose of 
electing a representative to the general court, the said territory 
shall continue to be a part of the town of Groton, until a new ap- 
portionment for representatives is made ; and the inhabitants 
resident therein shall be entitled to vote in the choice of such rep- 
resentatives, and shall be eligible to the office of representative in 
the town of Groton, in the same manner as if this act had not been 
passed. 

13 



98 BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON. 

The latest legislation connected with the dismemberment 
of the original grant — and perhaps the last for many years to 
come — is the Act of February 14, 1871, by which the town 
of Ayer was incorporated. This enactment took from Groton 
a large section of territory lying near its southern borders, and 
from Shirley all that part of the town on the easterly side of 
the Nashua River which was annexed to it from Groton on 
February 6, 1 798. 

Thus has the old Groton Plantation, during a period of more 
than two centuries, been hewed and hacked down to less than 
one half of its original dimensions. Formerly it contained 
40,960 acres, while now the amount of taxable land within the 
town is 19,850 acres. It has furnished, substantially, the en- 
tire territory of Pepperell, Shirley, and Ayer, more than one 
half of Dunstable, and has contributed more or less to form 
five other towns, — namely. Harvard, Littleton, and West- 
ford, in Massachusetts, besides Nashua and Hollis, in New 
Hampshire. The present shape of the town is very irregular, 
and all the original boundary lines have been changed except 
where they touch Townsend and Tyngsborough. An ex- 
amination of the map opposite to the titlepage of this book 
will show these changes more clearly than any verbal or 
written description. 




INDEX. 



Adams, William, 55, 59. 
Addington, Isaac, 24, 26. 
Allen, Villiam, (Allin) 58; 73, 75. 
Ames, Jacob, 75. 
Ames, John, 12, 30. 
Andover, Mass., 10. 
Apostle Eliot, 19. 
Atlierton, Amos, 84. 
Ayer, Mass., 10, 33 ; incorporation of, 
95, 98. 



Baldwin, Jeremiah, 55. 

Baldwin, Samuel, 55. 

Bancroft, Jonathan, 94. 

Barker, John, 24. 

Bartlit, Caleb, 85. 

Barton, Henry, 55. 

Bateman, John, 24. 

Beaver Brook, mention of, in Dunstable 
land grant, 17; mention of, in Har- 
vard Incorporation Act, 50. 

Becket, Mass., 41. 

Belcher, Jonathan, Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, 35, 48, 49, 51, 53, 56, 57, 58, 
60. 

Belcher's Grant, 41. 

Bennett, Moses, Jr., 85. 

Berry, Thomas, 57. 

Bigelow, Jonathan, 84. 

Bigelovv, Joshua, 42. 

Bigelow, Hon. Timothy, 94. 

Billerica, Mass., 10, 14, 15. 



Blanchard, Capt., 34. 

Blanchard, Joseph, 55, 69. 

Blanchard, William, 59. 

Blanford, Mass., 40. 

Blood, Caleb, Jr., 91. 

Blood, David, 75. 

Blood, Henry, 91. 

Blood, James, Jr., 74. 

Blood, John, 62. 

Blood, John, Jr., 75. 

Blood, Joseph, 62. 

Blood, Josiah, 55, 59. 

Blood, Nathaniel, 55. 

Blood, Peter, 91. 

Blood, Silas, 90. 

Blood, Silas, Jr., 91. 

Blood, Solomon, 74. 

Blood, William, 58, 73. 

Bond, Joseph, 84. 

Boston Farms, 14, 15. 

Boundaries, of Old Groton, 9; impor- 
tance of, to communities and indi- 
viduals, 9 ; principle of, as embodied 
in the Mosaic Code of laws, 9 ; prin- 
ciple of, personified and deified by 
ancient Romans, 9. 

Boxborough, Mass., 16. 

Brattle, Major William, 46. 

Brazer, James, 94. 

Brewer, Mr., 67. 

Brookline, N. H., 33, 36. 

Brown Hill, 25, 29. 

Brown, Hannah, 84. 



L.ofC. 



lOO 



INDEX. 



Brown, Capt. Hopestill, 28, 29. 

Brown, Joseph, 84. 

Browne, Samuel, 55. 

Browne, W., 55. 

Buck Meadow, 14, 15. 

Buckminster, Col. Joseph, 42. 

Bulkeley, Col. John, 39. 

Burk, John, 4S. 

Burk, John, Jr., 48. 

Burnap, Joseph, 28, 29. 

Burrell, Ebenezer, 47. 

Burrell, John, 24. 

Burt, Phinehas, 85. 

Butler, Caleb, 13, 33 ; his History of 

Groton quoted, 64 ; cited, 90, 91. 
Buttrick, John, 24. 



Chamberlin, John, 62, 74. 

Chambrlin, Phineahas, 74. 

Chandler, Col. John, 34, 87. 

Chandler, Samuel, 46. 

Chandler's Grant, 41. 

Chapman, Elbridge, 97. 

Charlestown School Farm, mention of, 
in Dunstable land grant, 17. 

Chase, Samuel, 95. 

Chelmsford, Mass., 10, 14, 15, 17 ; joint 
petition of, to General Court regard- 
ing Nashobah territory, 23, 25. 

Clap, Col. Thomas, 42. 

Clarke, Thomas, 81, 90. 

Colburn, Isaac, 67. 

Colburn, James, 77, 7S. 

Colburn, Robert, 55. 

Colburn, William, 55. 

Collans, John, 69. 

Concord, Mass., 22 ; joint petition of, to 
General Court regarding Nashobah 
territory, 23, 25. 

Cowell, Edward, 14, 15. 

Coyachus, 34. 

Coyecus Brook, 83. 

Cumings, James, 55. 

Cumings, Jerahmal, 55. 

Cumings, John, 62, 74. 

Cumings, Samuel, 59, (Comings) 69, 

71- 
Cumings, William, 62. 
Cummings, Capt., 67, (Cummins) 68. 
Cummings, Nathaniel, 90. 
Cushing, Thomas, 74, 76. 



Dabey, Simon, 95. 

Danforth, Jonathan, 30; first appoint- 
ment by General Court as surveyor 
of Groton, 10; his resignation and 
second appointment to same duties, 
10, II; poetical tribute to his char- 
acter, II. 

Danforth, Josiah, 94. 

Danforth, Samuel, 12, 30. 

Darby, John, 24. 

Davis, Eleazer, 47 ; a survivor of Love- 
well's Fight at Pequawket, 48 ; pen- 
sion granted to, 48. 

Davis, John, 48. 

Dinsmoor, Thos., 55, (Dinsmore) 62. 

Divoll, Manasser, 84. 

Dodge, Joseph, 85. 

Doublet, Sarah, alias Sarah Indian, 28. 

Dram Cup Hill, mention of, in Dun- 
stable land grant, 17, 35, 36. 

Dudley, Joseph, 22, 23, 28, 29. 

Dunstable, Mass., 10, 16, 32, 34 ; origi- 
nal grant of, 17 ; inaccuracies of early 
map of, 18 ; incorporation of, 18 ; 
West Parish of, 58; division of, by 
Provincial Line, 63 ; partial annexa- 
tion of, to Nottingham, 63 ; location 
of meeting-house at, and excitement 
attendant thereon, 64-68 ; attempted 
annexation of part of Nottingham 
and the Joint Grass district to, 64- 
69; final success thereof, 70, 71; 
partial annexation to Pepperell, 76, 
77 ; partial annexation of Groton 
land to, and establishment of boun- 
dary line with that town, 90-92. 



Eames, Stephen, 59, (Ames) 61. 
East Pepperell, Mass., 14. 
Eaton, Joseph, 55. 
Ellat, Elies, 74, (Elias Ellit) 75. 
Emerson, Rev. Joseph, cited, 64, 78. 
Epes, Major Daniel, 34. 



Farle, Samuel, 59. 
Farley, Benjamin, 55. 
Farmer, William, 84. 
Farmer & Moore's " Collections," ex- 
tract from, 1 1. 



INDEX. 



lOI 



Farmington River, 40, 41. 

Farneth, William, 85. 

Farnsworth, Daniel, 47. 

Farnsworth, Ephraim, 47. 

Farnsworth, Jeremiah, 47. 

Farnsworth, Jonathan, Jr., 47. 

Farnsworth, Phenihas, 84. 

Farnsworth, Reuben, 47. 

Farnworth, Simeon, 84. 

Farwell, Aimer, 85. 

Farwell, Henery, 85. 

Farwell, Isaac, 55. 

Farwell, John, 83. 

Farwell, Josiah, 85. 

Fisk, Nathan, 74. 

Fisk, Samuel, 58, 74. 

Fisk, Thomas, 62. 

Fitch, Jonas, 96. 

Fitch, Zachariah, 93, 96. 

Flegg, Eleazer, 59. 

Fletcher, Hezekiah, 24. 

Fletcher, Joseph, 24, 69, 71. 

Fletcher, Robert, 69. 

Flint, Lieut. John, 19, 20, (Flynt) 25. 

Flood, Samuel, 84. 

Forge Pond, 13, 16, 45. 

Fowle, John, Jr., 55. 

Fo.x, Mr. Jabez, 65. 

Foxcrolt, Francis, 65. 

Frost, Abijah, 84. 

Frost, Simon, 56, 57. 

Fryeburg, Me., 48. 



General Court, grants land for town- 
ship of Groton, 9 ; its selection of 
surveyors for laying out Groton town- 
ship, 10, 11; petitions submitted to, 
regarding disputed Nashobah terri- 
tory, 19, 22, 23, 25, 27; confirmation 
of original Groton land grant by, 26, 
30; final re-establishment of Nasho- 
bah as township by, 27. 

Gerrish, Col. Joseph, 42, 65. 

Gilson, Ebenezer, 58, 74, 75. 

Gould, Uavid, 85. 

Gould, Jonathan, 85. 

(jould, Samuel, 69. 

Green, Eleazer, 75. 

Green, James, 62, 75. 

Green, John, 59, 61. 



Greenleaf, John, 88. 
Greenville, N. H., 34, 36. 
Groton, early boundary lines of, 9- iS; 
original grant of township, 9, 10 ; 
surveyors appointed by General 
Court for laying out township of, 10, 
1 1 ; making of its survey and troubles 
incidental thereto, 10, 11 ; plans of 
its survey, 11, 12, 13; plan of early 
township as now existing, 13, 14; 
incorporation of, 18 ; encroachments 
of, on abandoned Nashobah territory, 
21, 22; confirmation of original land 
grant of, by General Court, 26, 30 ; 
its loss from the Nashobah settle- 
ment of boundaries, 32 ; application 
for grant of Groton Gore, 32 ; Gen- 
eral Court Record of grant of Gore, 
35, 36 ; boundaries of Gore, 36 ; sub- 
sequent loss of Gore by decision 
regarding Provincial Line, 38, 39; 
equivalent grant of land to, with 
description thereof, 39-41; partial 
annexation of territory to Westford, 
45 ; partial annexation of territory to 
Littleton, 51 ; petitions for and 
against further dismemberment of, 
in favor of HoUis, 53 - 62 ; attempted 
annexation of Joint Grass district of, 
to Dunstable, 65-69; final success 
thereof, 70 ; petitions for establish- 
ment of West Parish as separate 
precinct of, 72-76; final establish- 
ment of West Parish as separate dis- 
trict and town, 78-81; petitions for 
further division of, in favor of Shir- 
ley, 82-8S ; partial annexation of, to 
Dunstable, and establishment of 
boundary line with that town, 90-92 ; 
Prescott's plan of, 92-94; unsuc- 
cessful land dispute with Tyngs- 
borough, 93, 94 ; further annexation 
of land to Shirley, 95, 96 ; acquisi- 
tion of Pepperell land by, 96 ; open- 
ing of Worcester & Nashua R. R., 
and consequent loss of land by par- 
tial annexation to Pepperell, 97; 
further dismemberment of, with in- 
corporation of Ayer, 98 ; comparison 
between the early and present terri- 
tory of, 98. 
Groton Old Corner, 16. 



102 



INDEX. 



Hale, Mr. Robert, 34, 48. 

Hall, Richard, 84. 

Hall, Timothy, 84. 

Harris, Francis, 85. 

Harris, Stephen, 55. 

Hartewell, Samuel, Jr., 24. 

Hartwell, Edward, 87. 

Harvard, Mass., 10 ; incorporation and 
make-up of, with first petition there- 
for, 46 ; early plan of, as now existing, 
47 ; final petition for incorporation, 
48; Act of Incorporation of, 50, 51 ; 
petition for division of, in favor of 
Shirley, 82-88. 

Haskell, Henry, 84. 

Hauthorne, William, 63. 

Haverhill, Mass., 10, 16. 

Hazen, Samuel, 84. 

Heald, John, 24. 

Hell Pond, 83, 84. 

Henchman, Mr., 27. 

Henry, Robert, 83, 85. 

Heyvvood, John, 24. 

Hill, John, 65, 70. 

Hill, John Boynton, cited, 37. 

Hinchman, Capt. Thomas, 19. 

Hobart, Gershom, 74. 

Hobart, James, 97. 

Hobson, Capt. John, 34, 55. 

Hodgman, Rev. Edwin Rutherford, his 
History of Westford quoted, 45. 

Holdin, Caleb, 85. 

Holdin, Isaac, 85. 

Holdin, Philemon, 85. 

Holdin, Stephen, Jr., 85. 

Hollis, N. H., ID, 16, 58. 

Holten, Dr. Samuel, 42. 

Horse Pond, 83. 

Houghton, Jacob, 47, 84. 

Houghton, John, Jr., 84. 

Houghton, Jonas, 35, 46, 47, (Haugh- 
ton) 48; 49. 

Housatonick townships, 41. 

Howe, Gideon, 59. 

Howe, Thomas, 24, (How) 26. 

Hubbard, Thomas, 78, 81, 90. 

Hubburd, Jonathan, 24. 

Hunt, Enoch, 59. 

Hutchins, Joseph, 84. 

Ipswich, Mass., 35, 36 ; grant of land 
to, 36. 



Jefes, Henery, 62. 

Jeffries, John, 52. 

Jeremies Hill, mention of, in Dunstable 

land grant, 17. 
Jewett, Nehemiah, 75. 
Johnson, Joshua, 84. 
Joint Grass, 65. 
Jones, Maj. Jolm, 65, 87. 
Jones, Samuel, 24. 

Keen, Wm., 24. 
Kelcey, John, 85. 
Kemp, John, 75. 
Kent, Abner, 45. 
Kindal, Relph, S;^. 

Lakin, Isaac, 62, 74. 

Lakin, Jacob, 62, 74. 

Lancaster, Mr. Thomas, 42. 

Lancaster, Mass., 10, 22, 47 ; joint pe- 
tition to General Court regarding 
Nashobah territory, 23, 25 ; petition 
for division of, in favor of Shirley, 
82 -88. 

Larwance, Enoch, 62, (Lawarnce) 73. 

Larwance, James, 62, 74. 

Laughton, Thomas, 85. 

Laurance, Joseph, 74. 

Lawrence, Isaac, 91. 

Lawrence, Jeremiah, 59, (Lawrance) 
73 j 75; (Jarimah Lawrance) 77. 

Lawrence, Maj. William, 67. 

Lawrence, Nathaniel, 91. 

Lawrence, Nathaniel, Jr., 62. 

Lawrence, Peleg, 20, 21, (Lawrance) 77. 

Lawrence, Peter, 52. 

Lawrence, Samuel, 93. 

Lawrence, William, 60, 71. 

Lawrence, Zachariah, Jr., 59, (Law- 
rance) 73, (Zachery) 75. 

Lemmon, Joseph, 55. 

Leominster, Mass., 16, 86. 

Leveret, Rev. John, 28. 

Littleton, Mass., 10, 16 (see Nashobah). 

Livermore, Capt. Samuel, 87. 

Longley, John, Jr., 84. 

Longley, Jonas, 85. 

Lovevvell, Capt. John, 48. 

Lovewell's Pond, 15. 

Lunenberg, Mass., 86, 87, 88, (Luning- 
burgh) 89. 



INDEX. 



103 



Malven, John, 55. 

Malven, Jonathan, 55. 

Marshall, Dr. Jonas, 91. 

Marshall, Silas, 91. 

Marshall, Silas, Jr., 91. 

Mason, N. H., 33, 36. 

Massachusetts Archives, extract from, 
22, 23, 25, 49, 52, 56, 57, 59, 60, 62, 
67, 69, 74, 76, 78, Si, 84, 90. 

Massachusetts House of Representa- 
tives, extract from Journal of, 34, 36, 
39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 52, 65, 
66,68,70,71, 86,87,88. 

Massapoag Pond, 14, 16, 18. 

Meers, Capt. Robt, 27. 

Merrimack River, mention of, in Dun- 
stable land grant, 17; 37. 

Merryfield, Mass., 40. 

Middlefield, Mass., Memorial of Hun- 
dredth Anniversary cited, 43. 

Miles, John, 24. 

Milford, N. H., 34, 36. 

Millstone Hill, 45. 

Minot, James, 55, 67, 87. 

Miriam, John, 24. 

Moodey, Mr. Samuel, 48. 

Morse, Abel, 95. 

Mosaic Code of laws, its embodiment 
of the principle of fixed boundaries, 9. 

Mozier, John, 75. 



Nashobah, 14, 16; township grant to 
Indians, 19 ; subsequent abandon- 
ment of, 19; early controversies re- 
garding territory of, 19, 21, 22, 23, 27 ; 
re-establishment of boundary lines of, 
19, 29; various petitions to General 
Court regarding territory of, 19, 22, 
23, 25, 27 ; township, re-establishment 
of, 26, 27 ; reservation by General 
Court in favor of descendants of early 
Indian proprietors of, 28, 29 ; incor- 
poration of, 29 ; change of name to 
Littleton, 29. 

Nashua, N. H., 10, 15, iS. 

Nashua River, 13, 14, 16, 54, 56, 95; 
early names for, 63. 

Nason's History of Dunstable cited, 69. 

Navins, Thomas, 55. 

Nicholls, John, 84. 

Nickols, Col. Ebenezer, 42. 



Nissitissett Hills, 14, iS. 

Nonacoicus, 32, 85, (Coyachus) 34. 

Nottingham, incorporation and territory 
of, 63 ; division of, by Provincial 
Line, and change of name of N. H. 
part, 63 ; attempted partial annexa- 
tion of, to Dunstable, 64, 65, 66, 68, 
69. 

Noyes, Ensign Peter, begins survey of 
Groton, 10; his death, 10. 



Oak Hills, 16. 
Osgood, John, 84. 
Otis, John, 87. 



Page, Daniel, 83, 84, 85. 

Park, James, 85. 

Parker, Benjamin, 62, 74. 

Parker, Josiah, 75. 

Parker, Levi, 91. 

Parker, Lieut. Nathaniel, 39, 61, 73. 

Parker, Obadiah, 55. 

Parker, Phiniahas, Jr., 74. 

Parker, Samuel, 59. 

Parkhurst, Ebenezer, 67, 71. 

Parkhurst, Joseph, 69, 71, 91. 

Parlin, John, 24. 

Pattorson, James, 85. 

Pawer, Peter, 55, 62. 

Pawtucket Falls, Mass., 38. 

Pearce, Ebenezer, 55, (Peirce) 58, 
(Parce) 74. 

Pearce, John, 84. 

Pemigewasset River, 37. 

Pepperell, Mass., 10, 14; extract from 
dedication sermon at second meeting- 
house in, 64 ; incorporation and nam- 
ing of, 78-81 ; early limitations of 
the town privileges of, 79 ; Prescott's 
plan of, 92-94; loss of small tract of 
territory annexed to Groton, 96 ; an. 
nexation of Groton land to, 97. 

Pepperrell, Sir William, 78. 

Pequawket, Lovewell's Fight at, 48. 

Perham, Joseph, (Perriaham) 69. 

Phillips, Seth, 62, 74. 

Phips, Spencer, 28, (Phipes) 77 ; 78. 

Pierce, Daniel, 87. 

Power, Jerathmel, 85. 

Powers, Daniel, 21. 



I04 



INDEX. 



Powers, Walter, 21. 

Powers, William, 24. 

Preist, Joseph, 84. 

Prescott, Hon. Penj., 32, 42, 77. 

Prescott, Ebenezer, 45. 

Prescott, Hon. James, 13, 33. 

Prescott, James, (Prescot) 39; 41, 42. 

Prescott, Capt. Jonas, 21, (Prescot) 45 ; 

47- 
Prescott, Oliver, 39; joint petition for 

land grant, 41, 42. 
Prescott, Dr. Oliver, Jr., 94; plan of 

Groton, Pepperell, and Shirley by, 92, 

93- 

Prescott, William, 39, 76 ; joint petition 

for land grant, 41, 42, 77. 
Preston, William, 85. 
Priest, Joseph, 84. 
Procter, Ebenezer, 55, 91. 
Procter, Gershom, 24. 
Procter, John, 24. 
Procter, Moses, 55. 
Procter, Samuel, 24. 
Provincial Line, 32, 33 ; the subject of 

dispute, 37, 38; definite settlement 

of, and consequent loss of territory to 

Groton, 38, 39. 



QuiNCY, J., Speaker of House of Rep- 
resentatives, 49, 51, 56, 57, 59, 65. 



Randal, Samuel, 84. 

Rand's Grant, 41. 

Read, Jonathan, 84. 

Read, Jonathan, Jr., 84. 

Read, Timothy, 69, 71. 

Reed, Ralph, 33, (Read) 39. 

Remant, Daniel, 55. 

Rice, Mr. Phineas, 87. 

Richards, Charles, 84. 

Richards, Col. Joseph, 87. 

Ridge Road, 15. 

Right, Samuel, (Wright) 73. 

Robbins, Benjamin, 62, 69, 71, (Robins) 

74- 
Robbins, Eleazer, 47. 
Robbins, Robert, 20, 21, (Robins) 24. 
Robbins, Willard, 92. 
Russell, John, 48, 85. 
Russll, Amos, 84. 



Saco River, 43. 

Saltonstall, Nathaniel, 55. 

Sampson, Benjamin, 84. 

Sampson, John, 84. 

Sanderson, Joseph, 97. 

Sartell, Josiah, 33, (Sawtell) 39 ; 62, 74. 

Sartell, Nathaniel, 51, 52, 60. 

Sawtell, Hezekiah, Jr., 85. 

Sawtelle, Ithamar Bard, cited, 23- 

Sawyer, Corp. Elias, 84. 

Scott, John, 62. 

Shadd, John, 75. 

Shattuck, David, 62, 75. 

Shattuck, James, 62, 75. 

Shattuck, John, 62. 

Shattuck, Jonathan, 62, 75. 

Shattuck, Jonathan, Jr., 62, 75. 

Shattuck, Samuel, Jr., 62, 75. 

Shattuck, William, 55. 

Sheple, Jona., Groton Town Clerk, 60. 

Shepley, John, 12, 30. 

Shirley, Mass., 10, 16 ; attempts at for- 
mation of precinct from Groton, Lan- 
caster, and Harvard lands, 82 -88; 
Act of Incorporation of, 89, 90 ; Pres- 
cott's plan of, 92-94; annexation of 
Groton land to, 95, 96. 

Shirley, William, Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, 66, 72, 74, 76, 89. 

Shute, Samuel, 31. 

Simonds, William, 85. 

Smith, Prof. Edward Payson, quoted, 44. 

Souhegan River, mention of, in Dun- 
stable land grant, 17; (Sohegan) 35, 
36, 56- 

Spaulding, John, 74. 

Spaulding, Joseph, Jr., (Spoaldeng) 62 ; 

^ (Spalding) 69; 71, 72, 74. 

Spaulding, Zacheus, 69. 

Spoalding, William, 62, (Spaklen) 75. 

Squannacook River, iS, 85, 89. 

Stearns, John, (Sternes) 24; 25. 

Stevens, Thomas, 22. 

Stone, James, 51. 

Stone, Simon, 46. 

Stone, Simon, Jr., 47, 48, (Stoon) 49. 

Stony Brook Pond, 13, 45. 

Stow Leg, 16, 82. 

Stow, Mass., petition to General Court 
regarding the Nashobah territory, 
22-25. 

Stratton, Samuel, 24. 



INDEX. 



105 



Sudbury, Mass., 22. 
Swallow, Amaziah, 90. 
Swallow, Benjamin, 58, 61, 74, 75. 
Swallow, John, 62, 65, 69, 71, 74- 
Swallow, Joseph, 74. 



Tarbell, Thomas, 86. 

Taylor, Abraham, Jr., 55, 62. 

Taylor's Grant, 40. 

Taylor, Joseph, 55. 

Terminus, Roman personification of 
the principle of fixed boundaries, 9. 

Terry, Mr. Ebenezer, 48. 

Tompson, Simon, 67, (Thompson) 68. 

Townsend, Mass., 32, /Townshend) 34. 

Townsend, Ebenezer, 45. 

Tucker, Josiah, 59, 61, 74, 75. 

Turner, Mr. Israel, 87. 

Tyng, Jonathan, 24, 26. 

Tyng, John, 66, 67, 87. 

Tyng's Corner, 45. 

Tyngsborough, Mass., 16, 45 ; acquisi- 
tion of land from Nottingham, 64 ; 
land dispute with and acquisition of 
land from Groton, 93, 94. 



Varnum, Jonas, 75. 
Vering, David, 55. 



Warner, Joseph, 74. 
Warner, Richard, 58, 59, 62, 74. 
Watertown, Mass., Session of General 

Court at, 89. 
Watts, Samuel, 86, 87. 
Westford, Mass., 10 ; acquisition of 

Groton territory, 45. 
Wheeler, Lieut. Joseph, 19, 20, (W^iel- 

er) 25. 
Wheeler, Peter, 55. 



Wheeler, Thomas, 24, 46, 48, (Wheler) 

49. 
Whit, John, 83. 
Whitcomb, Josiah, 24. 
Whitney, John, 85, 87, 88, 90. 
Whitney, Jonathan, 46, 48, 49. 
Whitney, Rev. Peter, his History of 

Worcester County cited, 84. 
Wilder, Joseph, 65, 87. 
Willard, Abijah, 84. 
Willard, Benjamin, 84. 
Willard, Daniel, 84. 
Willard, Henry, 84. 
Willard, J., 49, 50, 51, 57, 74, 76, 78. 
Willard, Major Simon, 12, 32, 39, 63. 
Willard, William, 84. 
Williams, Col. Elijah, 42. 
Williams, Isaac, 58, 74, 75. 
Williams, Jacob, 85. 
Williams, John, 85. 
Williams, John, Jr , 85. 
Williams, William, 85. 
Wilson, Joseph, 85. 
Wilson, Samuel, 50. 
Wilton, N. H., 34, 36. 
Wily, Timothy, 28, 29. 
Winnepesaukee River, 37. 
Winthrop, Deane, 10, 30, 34. 
Wistequassuck, 63. 
Wood, Addison, 16. 
Woods, Amos, 91. 
Woods, Caleb, 90. 
Woods, Caleb, Jr., 91. 
Woods, Isaac, 62, 74. 
Woods, John, 62, 74. 
Woods, Jonathan, 62, 75. 
Woods, Moses, 75. 
Woods, Solomon, 91. 
Woodward, John, 94. 
Woolcut's Grant, 40. 
Woolerick, Philip, 55, (Wolrich) 59. 
Wright, Samuel, 62, (Right) 73. 
Wright, Thomas, 84. 



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